Submarine canyons are peculiar habitats of the continental margin due to their hydrodynamic and geomorphological features. Coral assemblages forming marine animal forests (MAFs) are one of the key benthic components dwelling in these habitats, where they enhance the substrate's heterogeneity and provide shelter, feeding and spawning habitats for a wide variety of species. They are also considered Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs), since their fragile three-dimensional framework and slow growth rate exposes them to multiple anthropogenic stressors. Understanding the coupling processes between environmental factors and the scale at which coral assemblages develop in these habitats, is an essential step towards their protection. This study aims to identify MAFs along submarine canyons in the central Mediterranean basin (Eastern Sardinia) on the basis of video transects carried out using Remotely Operated Vehicle and test the influence of environmental variables (silt coverage, distance from the coast, water depth and slope of the substrate) in driving the spatial distribution variability. We identified nine MAF assemblages dwelling in both rocky and silted substrate, from 90 to 220 m depth. We found that the most significant variability in densities and diversity of MAF assemblages occurs mostly within canyons rather than among canyons that are distant hundreds of km apart. Distance-based linear modelling (DistLM) identified silt coverage and water depth as the main factors explaining the observed variability. Overall our study provided new insights on MAFs composition and spatial distribution in submarine canyons which are, in turn, strongly influenced by local physical conditions. Such results emphasized the need for sound in situ conservation strategies in order to preserve MAFs and their ecological role.

海底峡谷由于其水动力和地貌特征而成为大陆边缘的特殊栖息地。形成海洋动物森林（MAF）的珊瑚群落是这些生境中主要的底栖生物成分之一，它们增强了底物的异质性，并为各种物种提供了庇护，觅食和产卵的栖息地。它们还被认为是脆弱的海洋生态系统（VME），因为它们脆弱的三维框架和缓慢的生长速度使它们面临多种人为压力。了解环境因素与这些生境中珊瑚组合发育的规模之间的耦合过程，是实现其保护的必不可少的步骤。这项研究旨在根据使用遥控车辆进行的视频横断面识别地中海中部盆地（东部撒丁岛）海底峡谷中的MAF，并测试环境变量（泥沙覆盖，距海岸的距离，水深和坡度）的影响在驱动空间分布变异性方面）。我们确定了90个MAF组件，它们分别居住在90到220 m深度的岩石和淤泥基质中。我们发现，MAF组合的密度和多样性最显着的变化主要发生在峡谷内，而不是在相距数百公里的峡谷之间。基于距离的线性建模（DistLM）将淤泥覆盖率和水深确定为解释观测到的变化的主要因素。总体而言，我们的研究提供了有关海底峡谷中MAF组成和空间分布的新见解，而海底峡谷又受当地物理条件的影响很大。这样的结果强调了声音的必要性原位保护策略以保护MAF及其生态作用。