Dataset of breaking down the ecological stability of a giant kelp forest community

Here we analysed the resistance, resilience, and recovery of aggregate functions and composition of a community exposed to the experimental removal of the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera. We studied a species-rich macrobenthic community in a sub-Antarctic perennial kelp forest that regularly thins and recovers during the year. A pulsed loss of giant kelp from extreme destructive storms was mimicked and the understorey was monitored for 12 months.