Data from: An exotic species alters patterns of marine community development

Predictions of ecological patterns can be strengthened through replication of foundational studies under different environmental conditions to evaluate the consistency in their underlying processes. In this study, we replicated Sutherland and Karlson's 1977 classic ecology study that tested terrestrial paradigms of community development in a marine fouling community. The abundance patterns of marine fouling species were quantified on sequentially submerged settlement plates to investigate the effects of disturbance date on short- and long-term patterns of community development, and the original study's datasets were re-analyzed for comparison. In both studies, community structure was initially shaped by disturbance date due to monthly and annual variation in larval recruitment; however, the influence of disturbance date diminished over time. Despite these similarities, the underlying drivers of long-term patterns of community development have shifted substantially since the 1970′s. During the present study, an exotic tunicate, Clavelina oblonga, dominated plates over time and its dominance was associated with significant declines in species diversity. In contrast, the 1970s long-term community was characterized by a heterogeneous mixture of species that varied inter-annually, yielding increased species diversity over time. Continued observations of our settlement plates (2 years total) indicated that C. oblonga remains the dominant species in this community, suggesting that these findings are not the result of a single, novel recruitment event. These results highlight how an exotic species can alter patterns of community development and biodiversity. Moreover, this study demonstrates the need to replicate foundational ecological studies to evaluate community dynamics and underlying processes in light of ongoing ecosystem change.