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Although long-term ecological stability is often discussed as a community attribute, it is typically investigated at the species level (e.g. density, biomass), or as a univariate metric (e.g. species diversity). To provide a more comprehensive assessment of long-term community stability, we used a multivariate similarity approach that included all species and their relative abundances. We used data from 74 sites sampled annually from 2006 to 2017 to examine broad temporal and spatial patterns of change within rocky intertidal communities along the west coast of North America. We explored relationships between community change (inverse of stability) and the following potential drivers of change/stability: (a) marine heatwave events; (b) three attributes of biodiversity: richness, diversity and evenness and (c) presence of the mussel, Mytilus californianus, a dominant space holder and foundation species in this system. At a broad scale, we found an inverse relationship between community stability and elevated water temperatures. In addition, we found substantial differences in stability among regions, with lower stability in the south, which may provide a glimpse into the patterns expected with a changing climate. At the site level, community stability was linked to high species richness and, perhaps counterintuitively, to low evenness, which could be a consequence of the dominance of mussels in this system. Synthesis. Assessments of long-term stability at the whole-community level are rarely done but are key to a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of climate change. In communities structured around a spatially dominant species, long-term stability can be linked to the stability of this 'foundation species', as well as to traditional predictors, such as species richness., (© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.)

This article documents the addition of 283 microsatellite marker loci to the Molecular Ecology Resources Database. Loci were developed for the following species: Agalinis acuta; Ambrosia artemisiifolia; Berula erecta; Casuarius casuarius; Cercospora zeae-maydis; Chorthippus parallelus; Conyza canadensis; Cotesia sesamiae; Epinephelus acanthistius; Ficedula hypoleuca; Grindelia hirsutula; Guadua angustifolia; Leucadendron rubrum; Maritrema novaezealandensis; Meretrix meretrix; Nilaparvata lugens; Oxyeleotris marmoratus; Phoxinus neogaeus; Pristomyrmex punctatus; Pseudobagrus brevicorpus; Seiridium cardinale; Stenopsyche marmorata; Tetranychus evansi and Xerus inauris. These loci were cross-tested on the following species: Agalinis decemloba; Agalinis tenella; Agalinis obtusifolia; Agalinis setacea; Agalinis skinneriana; Cercospora zeina; Cercospora kikuchii; Cercospora sorghi; Mycosphaerella graminicola; Setosphaeria turcica; Magnaporthe oryzae; Cotesia flavipes; Cotesia marginiventris; Grindelia Xpaludosa; Grindelia chiloensis; Grindelia fastigiata; Grindelia lanceolata; Grindelia squarrosa; Leucadendron coniferum; Leucadendron salicifolium; Leucadendron tinctum; Leucadendron meridianum; Laodelphax striatellus; Sogatella furcifera; Phoxinus eos; Phoxinus rigidus; Phoxinus brevispinosus; Phoxinus bicolor; Tetranychus urticae; Tetranychus turkestani; Tetranychus ludeni; Tetranychus neocaledonicus; Tetranychus amicus; Amphitetranychus viennensis; Eotetranychus rubiphilus; Eotetranychus tiliarium; Oligonychus perseae; Panonychus citri; Bryobia rubrioculus; Schizonobia bundi; Petrobia harti; Xerus princeps; Spermophilus tridecemlineatus and Sciurus carolinensis., (© 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)