Inconsistencies in the response of faunal abundance to changes in pelagic production, when compared to historic models describing benthic community response to organic enrichment, suggested that other factors were influencing temporal variability within these assemblages. Inter-annual differences in communities of adult macrofauna were best explained by measures of epibenthic predation and winter–spring surface water temperature and a model containing these variables along with station location was able to capture the most salient patterns of variability in benthic community structure. Epibenthic predation pressure also explained a significant portion of the temporal variability in the composition and relative abundance of juvenile macrofaunal communities; however evidence suggested the importance of additional factors not included in the present analysis. The specific pattern of inter-annual variability in benthic community structure differed among sampling locations and depended on the successional status of the assemblage. Correlations were also identified between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Index lagged by one year and the abundance and diversity of communities in the late stages of faunal succession.