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Habitat profile US

Rocky intertidal coast of the Pacific United States

Along this rocky stretch of the U.S. Pacific coast, tides alternate immersion and exposure to the air; waves and competition for space characterize the environment, and tide pools retain water among the rocks at low tide.

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Ecological context

A system, not a backdrop

A guide to the landscape, its changes and ways to care for it. This profile covers a broad habitat type; local data need site-specific research.

01

Habitat guide

How it works

Environmental conditions

The shore is exposed to the air at low tide and becomes submerged again at high tide; waves can also strike it forcefully, and organisms face changing conditions between tides.

Distribution and scope

The evidence places this habitat on the west coast of North America and documents rocky intertidal shores in the Channel Islands off California; it does not detail its full extent within the United States.

Structure

The rocky intertidal zone can be arranged in vertical bands between the high- and low-tide limits, and includes pools where water becomes trapped among rocks and sediment as the tide recedes.

Ecological processes

The tidal cycle alternates immersion and exposure, while waves can displace organisms and competition for space influences interactions within the intertidal community.

How to read occurrence data

Linked species are documented examples for a specific area. The list is not complete, and the absence of a species does not prove that it is not present.

Evidence base

Sources for this profile

References for checking the processes and pressures described. Regional sources do not make this overview a local inventory.

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    Rocky Intertidal Zone US National Park Service
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    Costa es.wikipedia.org
  4. 04
    Phoca vitulina es.wikipedia.org
  5. 05
    Johanna Segovia es.wikipedia.org
  6. 06
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    Intertidal zone en.wikipedia.org
  8. 08
    Intertidal ecology en.wikipedia.org
  9. 09
    Giant Pacific octopus en.wikipedia.org
  10. 10
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    Roscoff fr.wikipedia.org
  12. 12
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    Hemigrapsus sanguineus fr.wikipedia.org
  14. 14
  15. 15
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    Oceano pt.wikipedia.org
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    Mar pt.wikipedia.org
  18. 18
    Haliotidae pt.wikipedia.org
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    Harbor seal en.wikipedia.org
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