Community stability: effects of limpet removal and reintroduction in a rocky intertidal community

The stability of a high rocky intertidal community was assessed in a controlled field experiment in which the most common consumers, limpets, were temporarily removed. Compared to the unmanipulated plots, the exclusion plots developed greater algal abundance and altered species composition of both algae and barnacles. The community was not perturbed beyond its capacity to recover, since the community structure of the limpet-removal plots converged on the structure of the unmanipulated plots following limpet reintroduction. Different components of the community recovered at different rates, depending on whether or not the species had a size-related escape from the limpets. Algae had no size-related escape from limpets. The difference in algal abundance between manipulated and unmanipulated plots lasted less than six months after limpet reintroduction. Barnacles, however, had a size-related escape from limpets and therefore recovered more slowly. The difference in barnacle species composition between the perturbed and unperturbed plots lasted for 17 months after limpet reintroduction. The length of the limpet removal period (16 or 28 months) did not appear to affect the rate of community recovery.