Assessing Fine-Scale Distribution and Volume of Mediterranean Algal Reefs through Terrain Analysis of Multibeam Bathymetric Data. A Case Study in the Southern Adriatic Continental Shelf

In the Mediterranean Sea, crustose coralline algae form endemic algal reefs known as Coralligenous (C) build-ups. The high degree of complexity that C can reach through time creates notable environmental heterogeneity making C a major hotspot of biodiversity for the Mediterranean basin. C build-up can variably modify the submarine environment by affecting the evolution of submerged landforms, although its role is still far from being...