Succession on marine hard substrata: A fixed lottery

Community development is described for a temperate fouling community near Bremerton, Washington. Multivariate and functional group analyses are undertaken which reveal certain underlying patterns in the observed succession. These patterns include a steady increase in the dominance of solitary animals over their colonial counterparts, as well as a gradual convergence upon a few relatively persistent species assemblages. In our discussion of these results, a Markov model for succession on marine hard substrata is introduced. Implications of the model and its limitations are explored in terms of community development and stability. Finally, an attempt is made to reconcile the model's results with our field observations.