Coral communities are among the most fascinating of all biotic
assemblages on earth. It is their rich diversity and the strong
biological interactions which characterize these communities that
provides the focus for this book. Here I describe patterns of diversity,
species interactions, and community organization as well as the
processes which influence these structural attributes. Although this
treatment of the subject will to some degree blend evolutionary and
ecological phenomena, I am primarily interested in the dynamic
properties of living coral communities. Hence, such processes as
succession, competition, predation, herbivory, and disturbances will be
emphasized in ecological terms, but not to the exclusion of evolutionary
considerations. The former influence the maintenance of diversity in
coral communities and local distribution and abundance patterns. The
latter deal primarily with the origins of diversity, adaptations to the
local environment, biogeographic distributions, and longevity in the
fossil record. With the recent resurgence of interest in historical and
large-scale geographical effects on the local diversity of ecological
communities, ecological and evolutionary perspectives are beginning to
be integrated into our understanding of community organization and
dynamics. Hence, a synthesis of these perspectives is attempted in the
final chapter of this book. This effort emerges as a consequence of
academic experiences, research interests, and the strong influence of
several individuals. My first exposure to ecology occurred at Pomona
College where three faculty members guided my early explorations into
this subject.
