Results of pattern analyses are presented from communities of colonizing species in north-west Iceland, south and central Australia, and attention drawn to the varied scales and intensities of environmentally determined pattern demonstrated in these analyses. It is argued that scale and intensity of environmental pattern alone cannot be accepted as evidence of relative stability between stages belonging to separate successional sequences, although such studies may provide acceptable evidence of relative stability when confined to analyses of stages from a single sere. It is also argued that a fuller interpretation of the meaning to be attached to assessments of environmental pattern will follow on associated studies of the degree of ecological adaptation shown by the species concerned.