Contributing authors: Lars Gamfeldt, Hege Gundersen, Susanna Jernberg, Pia Norling, Hannele llvessalo-Lax, Michael Koie Poulsen, Jan Sorensen, Tero Mustonen, Guri Sogn Andersen, Marie Kvarnstrom, Anna-Stiina Heiskanen, Hakan Tunon. Important habitats across the Nordic coastal region include sea grass beds, kelp forests, blue mussel beds and soft sediments. Declines in sea grass have occurred since the 1970's, most likely due to eutrophication and overfishing. Norwegian kelp forests are recovering following severe losses in the 1960-1970's, most likely due to increased water temperature and changes in grazing pressure.