Multiple Stable Points in Natural Communities

Evidence is presented which indicates the importance of historical events in determining the structure of a variety of natural communities. In the fouling community at Beaufort, North Carolina, the order of larval recruitment determined which species monopolized the available space during initial community development. In other systems, community structure could be explained only by referring to the specific historical events which determined the presence or absence of important consumers. Since history was relevant to the observed community structure, multiple stable points are an undeniable reality in space and time in these systems.