Yeah, I've noticed this too. I actually tried to do a quick lit search to see if there was anything on this but didnt come up with much. One thing I've experimented with, and where you'll find some explanation of aquatic succession, is in perturbation theory. There are some cool papers on the subject but Advanced Aquarist had a neat article on it a while back that you should read. It gives examples of starfish, waves and logs destroying sections of muscles colonies and the subsequent competition and succession of the new real estate.
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