Being a leading edge rocky shoreline, sombrio is subject to vertical zonation which can be seen with the distinct brown algal, red algal, and subtidal zones. Sombrios backshore consists of a Douglas Fir, Coastal Western Hemlock forest with a rich understory of salal, oregon grape, deer fern and huckleberries (What is the intertidal zone? 2015).
The nearshore consists of a cobble beach, where outdoor enthusiasts can set up campsites or start a hike on the Juan de Fuca trail. The intertidal zone is home to many creatures that have adapted to withstanding the harsh environment of being inundated between tides (What is the intertidal zone? 2015). The intertidal zone is also home to tide pools that can be some of the most diverse small scale ecosystems, and holds creatures such as barnacles, urchins, anemones and chitons (Intertidal Zone, 2015). Between the intertidal and subtidal zone, eelgrass communities create a keystone habitat, which are currently endangered on BC and global coastlines.
Photo received November 12th, 2015 from: https://www.crd.bc.ca/education/our-environment/ecosystems/coastal-marine/intertidal-zone
In the subtitdal zone Sombrio has dense kelp forests that create a unique environment for different invertebrates, and are also an important food source for many organisms such as sea urchins. Kelp forests help create a safe buffer zone on the wave dominated shoreline. Protection from the high wave energy in this area is important for different small larval fish (Suzuki Foundation, 2015).
An individual kelp plant alone can house over 10,000 separate invertebrates, such as crabs and snails (Suzuki Foundation, 2015). Kelp is important in the life cycles of juvenile rockfish, of which several species are threatened by by-catch (Suzuki Foundation, 2015) .
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