Patterns of recruitment and abundance of corals along the Great Barrier Reef

Different physical and biological processes' prevail at different scales(1- 4). As a consequence, small-scale experiments or local observations provide limited insights into regional or global phenomena(5-8). One solution is t o incorporate spatial scale explicitly into the experimental and sampling d esign of field studies, to provide a broader, landscape view of ecology(1-8 ). Here we examine spatial patterns in corals on the Great Barrier Reef, ac ross a spectrum of scales ranging from metres to more than 1,700 km. Our st udy is unusual because we explore large-scale patterns of a process (recrui tment by juveniles) as well as patterns of adult abundance, revealing the r elationship between the two. We show that coral-reef assemblages that are s imilar in terms of abundance may nonetheless show profound differences in d ynamics and turnover, with major implications for their ecology, evolution and management.