AbstractPatterns of community structure , in terms of total number of species , percentage of coral cover , species diversity and evenness , of the hermatypic corals on Luhuitou fringing reef were analyzed on the temporal scale of successional phases and the spatial scales of habitats. Temporal variation of species diversity in the mid and the deep－zone declined during succession , while the shallow zone did not . There is no indication that coral assemblages in different habitats become more similar over time as corals grow ; each successional period showed significant between-habitat variability in the pattern of species diversity.