Jan Atle Knutsen,^* Halvor Knutsen,^** Eli Rinde,^*** Hartvig Christie,^**** Torjan Bodvin,^***** Einar Dahl<sup>******


*</sup>Jan Atle Knutsen is researcher at the Institute of Marine Research. His main focus is Marine Protected areas and habitat mapping. Address: Department of Coastal Zone, Institute of Marine Research, Flødevigen Marine Research Station, 4817 His, Norway. e-mail: janak@imr.no
^**Halvor Knutsen () is a researcher at the Institute of Marine Research. His focus is on population biology/genetics and habitat mapping. Address: Department of Coastal Zone, Institute of Marine Research, Flødevigen Marine Research Station, 4817 His, Norway. e-mail: halvor.knutsen@imr.no
^***Eli Rinde is researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research. She holds a PhD in kelp forest ecology and has 20 years of experience with studies of coastal ecosystems. Main focus recent years have been on habitat mapping and modelling. Address: Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Gaustadalléen 21, 0349 Oslo, Norway. e-mail: eli.rinde@niva.no
^****Hartvig Christie is researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research. He has more than 25 years experience with ecological studies, included effects of perturbations and habitat manipulations, of benthic coastal ecosystems. He has long experience in field work (included diving) as well as experience with field experiments and experiments in mesocosms and aquaria. Address: Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Gaustadalléen 21, 0349 Oslo, Norway. e-mail: hartvig.christie@niva.no
^*****Torjan Bodvin is researcher at the Institute of Marine Research. His main focus is habitat mapping and classification. Address: Department of Coastal Zone, Institute of Marine Research, Flødevigen Marine Research Station, 4817 His, Norway. e-mail: torjan.bodvin@imr.no
^******Einar Dahl is head of “The coastal zone ecology programme” at the Institute of Marine Research in Norway and has a broad insight into coastal ecology in general. His basic expertise is on phytoplankton ecology. He has long experience from monitoring of phytoplankton in coastal waters including the physical and chemical conditions important to their occurrence. Address: Department of Coastal Zone, Institute of Marine Research, Flødevigen Marine Research Station, 4817 His, Norway. e-mail: einar.dahl@imr.no