Great Barrier Reef

The world's largest coral reef system, used to demonstrate the stability cascade in action. Sections with higher fish diversity maintained coral cover during bleaching events because multiple herbivorous fish guilds prevented algae from smothering coral. Low-diversity sections flipped to algae dominance and haven't recovered after 30 years, demonstrating how diversity loss can trigger cascading collapse. The reef shows that diversity isn't just correlated with stability - it creates the mechanisms that generate stability.