# The Arctic biogeographical region has a highly varied landscape and contains some of Europe’s few remaining large wilderness areas.# The climatic conditions put extreme pressure on plants and animals, and large parts of the region are still under glaciation. Permafrost is widespread.# There...

Nearly 87 % of the Black Sea is entirely anoxic (without oxygen) and contains high levels of hydrogen sulphide. This is the result of past geological events, its shape and its specific water balance (high degree of isolation from the world ocean, deep water depression with a maximum depth of 2...

The North Sea is a shallow and rather young ecosystem formed by the flooding of a landmass some 20 000 years ago. Its coasts and waters are still being colonised by new species from the Atlantic. The strong coupling between benthic and pelagic communities in the shallow parts of the sea makes it...

The North-east Atlantic Ocean is a part of the Atlantic Ocean and is dominated by deep ocean basins, except the Celtic Sea, the shelf along the Bay of Biscay and Iberian coast. The formation of the North Atlantic deep water is one of the driving forces for the thermohaline circulation of the...

The Boreal region is the largest biogeographical region of Europe. The climate is cool and mainly continental. It is Europeu0092s forest region, dominated by conifers. The forest area increases, getting more uniform and with less tree species and less biodiversity in the stands. The southern...

The Baltic is the largest brackish water system in the world. Its only connection to more open seas are the shallow sounds between Sweden and Denmark. x01x02 The sea is slowly shrinking because of geological uplifting of land after the last glaciation. x01x02 In many respects the Baltic is...

The Arctic Ocean covers a large area with harsh climatic conditions. x01x02 There are strong seasonal and geographical variations in light, temperature and ice cover. x01x02 The European part of the Arctic Ocean covers only about 8 % of the total area of the Arctic Ocean, but due to its great...

The Caspian is the largest enclosed sea in the world. It is brackish, with salinity up to 13.7 u0089. Significant changes in water levels occur. These, combined with the presence of large shallow areas, constitute a potential threat to biodiversity and especially to the many endemic species. The...

The Mediterranean Sea is oligotrophic: it is rich in oxygen and poor in nutrients. Oligotrophy increases from west to east. The fauna and flora is one of the species richest of the world and there is a high rate of endemism. Introduced alien species are increasing in the eastern basin. Compared...