Human-induced alteration of biogenic habitats at landscape scales is increasing and directly influences local diversity and system functioning (Vitousek et al. 1997, Duarte 2002, Lozte et al. 2006 and Airoldi & Beck 2007). Alteration of natural landscapes can result in the loss of entire habitats or the transition of more complex habitats to less complex habitats, for example shellfish coral reefs or seagrass beds in mudflats (Short and Wyllie-Echeverria 1996, Hughes et al. 2002, Ruesink et al. 2005, Tordo et al. Habitat alterations can generate unsuitable habitats between isolated patches of contiguous habitats (MacArthur & Wilson 1967, Hanski 1994). directed on the dynamics of a community (total abundance, diversity and species richness), in particular on the design and influence of the functional roles of the species occupying the system (Gray 1997, Tilman et al. 1994, Loureau et al. 2001) For example, much of the temperate continental shelf is being homogenized by trawling and dredging, resulting in the loss of individuals and functional groups (Thrush and Dayton 2002, Gray et al. 2006). The synergistic effects of loss of habitat quantity and quality, and the timing and pattern of habitat alteration may result in threshold levels of habitat loss below which faunal diversity, abundance and survival may be resilient. Habitat loss has been cited as one of the major threats to marine biodiversity (Gray 1997), and biogenic temperate coral reefs are probably among the most threatened habitats globally (Coleman and William 2002, Barbera et al. 2003, Airoldi and Beck 2007, Airoldi et al. These structurally complex habitats are declining in marine environments, across multiple spa... middle of paper... does the loss of kelp forest cover, and the spatial scale at which it occurs, influence the dynamics of the associated community in the canopy? (2) How do undisturbed alternative habitats (undisturbed canopy or subcanopy kelp habitats) buffer the invertebrate community after a disturbance? (3) Does the timing of habitat loss influence how community dynamics respond? (moved to discussion) (3) How do community dynamics recover after habitat loss, and if so, (4) how long does recovery take? To answer these questions we experimentally removed canopy habitat from kelp forest replicas. Manipulations were conducted at approximately the same spatial scale at which kelp forest canopies are commonly fragmented by human-induced alterations (e.g., mechanical harvesting activities; Bodkin 1988, Foster & Donnellan 1999).