While tropical forests have inspired more theories of species coexistence than perhaps any other habitat, a synthetic understanding of the forces that shape patterns of species distribution and abundance within these communities has remained elusive. My recent research has focused on understanding how different ecological processes, such as competition, habitat association and dispersal limitation change in importance across spatial scales from meters to kilometers within an upland rainforest in Amazonian Ecuador. I work within the 50 hectare Yasuni Forest Dynamics Plot, in collaboration with a number of researchers associated with the Center for Tropical Forest Science of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.