the emergence of transient cluster synchronization, intermittency and the distribution of the transient lifetime can be understood through a dynamical stability analysis based on symmetry considerations. Ecologically, in addition to uncovering transients in patch synchronization dynamics, our finding implies that the ubiquitous phenomenon of population cycles can possess a more organized dynamical structure than previously thought: not only do the populations in all patches exhibit the same trend of variation (synchronized in phase), but certain patches can also have the same population at any time even if they are not directly coupled and are separated by a large distance. In fact, nearby patches, in spite of being directly coupled, may not be completely synchronized. The results establish the possibility and the dynamical mechanism for spatially ‘remote’ synchronization in ecological systems.