Point of the Arches Long-Term trends

photo banner of different intertidal species

In order to standardize species resolution across all MARINe groups and over time, some species (typically rare) were lumped for graphical presentation of Long-Term monitoring data. See lumped categories for definitions (some variation occurs between methods and over time).

If you experience any barriers accessing the trend graphs below, please contact (pacificr@ucsc.edu) for help.

Photo Plots

photo plot framer

Below are the trends observed for each Photo Plot target species at this site. Long-Term percent cover trend graphs also include any species that reached a minimum of 25% cover during any single point in time within a given target species assemblage. Breaks in trend lines represent missed sampling events. For additional species observed that did not meet this 25% threshold, please use the Graphing Tool.


Chthamalus/Balanus (Acorn Barnacles) – percent cover

barnacle trend plot

Mytilus (California Mussel) – percent cover

mytilus trend plot

Species Counts and Sizes

sea stars

Species Counts and Sizes (where recorded) for Pisaster are shown below for this site. At some sites, other sea star species and Katharina are counted in addition to Pisaster. The sum of all individuals across all plots is displayed. Note that data gaps are represented by breaks in long-term count trend lines, but are not shown in size plots.

Pisaster ochraceus (Ochre Star) – counts

sea star trend plot

Pisaster ochraceus (Ochre Star) – sizes

sea star size frequency plot

Last modified: Jul 14, 2025