This habitat type includes underwater shoals – low oblong sand embankments with an asymmetrical cross-section, accumulated by waves. In Estonia, this habitat type is deemed to primarily include the shallow sea with a sandy bottom up to the lower distribution limit of vegetation, which is usually 5–15 metres deep in the coastal sea. Due to the strong movement of the sand due to the waves, the...

In Estonia, this habitat type includes those sections of rivers and streams that have remained in a natural or near-natural state. Of particular note are the watercourses starting from the uplands, where there are waterfalls and rapids with rocky gravel bottoms. Also valuable are the cold-water rivers starting from large springs and plain rivers flowing in a natural meandering bed, which form old...

This habitat type is described in Ireland, where the original name ‘turlough’ refers to the temporary bodies of water in karstic limestone areas: lakes are formed when karst hollows fill with groundwater and water advances into the depressions in the ground. When the water level falls, the water is absorbed into the karst hollows again and the lakes dry up. In the karstic limestone areas of...