It has long been recognised that the processes driving
coral reef dynamics are inherently patchy on many spatial
and temporal scales (see reviews by Hatcher, 1997; Rogers,
1993). Examples include patchy recruitment of corals
(Smith, 1992) and patchy damage caused by tropical storms
(Done, 1992). It is perhaps not surprising then that the reef
habitat of greatest coral cover (Montastraea reef) was found
to exhibit the greatest texture at a scale of 400 m2
.