One of the longest standing questions in ecology is that of how the multitude of species we see in many ecosystems persist alongside each other. A multitude of theories have been developed to explore this question. Our research in this broad area has focused on the dynamics of temperate forests in New Zealand (beech forests in the South Island and kauri-podocarp-hardwood forests in the north) and on the fine-scale dynamics of hyperdiverse Mediterranean-type shrublands in Western Australia. We have evaluated fine-grain spatial patterns and dabbled with neutral and stochastic dilution theory in the shrublands, and looked at the role of tree ferns in regeneration dynamics in forests in the North Island.