Data for: Insights for modern invasion ecology from biotic changes of the Clarksville Phase of the Richmondian Invasion (Ordovician, Katian)

The frequency of biotic invasions in modern ecosystems is increasing due
to global trade moving taxa outside their native ranges and climate change
facilitating establishment of taxa in previously inhospitable regions.
Thus, developing a holistic understanding of biotic invasions and how they
impact ecosystems over different timescales—from annual to geologic time
scales—is vital. Herein we examine a geologically brief invasion event,
the Clarksville Phase of the Richmondian Invasion. Prior analyses have
established general ecological and evolutionary patterns across the entire
Richmondian Invasion, but recent sequence stratigraphic refinement makes
analysis of individual invasion pulses possible for the first time. We
examine biotic change across the Clarksville Phase and identify invasion
impacts on diversity, paleocommunity composition, and niche stability.
Invader arrival and success were strongly linked to increased propagule
pressure facilitated by sea level changes. Invaders initially colonized
deep subtidal environments and then moved offshore facilitated by rapid
niche evolution during the invasion interval. Invasive taxa that attained
the largest population sizes belonged to previously underutilized
ecological guilds. Overall, the introduction of the invasive taxa resulted
in increased diversity that was maintained into the post-invasion interval
accompanied by a change in community composition in which the invaders
became dominant paleocommunity members. Combined these analyses document a
biotic invasion facilitated by climate change which increased local
diversity through invaders occupying underutilized ecospace and
competition-related niche contraction on millennial time scales.
Developing a long-term perspective to accompany shorter-term studies
facilitates predicting the long-term impacts of modern invasions and
creating better-informed policies and practices.