COLD TEMPERATE SEAWEED COMMUNITIES OF THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
In the southern hemisphere, five cold-temperate regions, the southwestern and southeastern South America, Victoria-Tasmania, southern New Zealand, and the sub-Antarctic islands regions, are identified. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) as well as diverse geological, paleoclimatic, and long-dis...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10533/164449 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28451-9 |
| Summary: | In the southern hemisphere, five cold-temperate regions, the southwestern and southeastern South America, Victoria-Tasmania, southern New Zealand, and the sub-Antarctic islands regions, are identified. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) as well as diverse geological, paleoclimatic, and long-distance dispersal processes has modeled the diversity, ecology, and biogeography of the marine flora of this region. While the coasts of Victoria-Tasmania, New Zealand, and southern Chile show remarkable endemism, the ACC on the other hand has served as a migration route creating similarities in the floras between the regions, especially along the sub-Antarctic islands. Seaweed zonation in Australia and New Zealand is dominated by fucaleans, whereas in southern Chile, the coast of Argentina, and sub-Antarctic islands the rocky shores are populated by kelps such as Macrocystis and Lessonia. A distinctive and conspicuous circumpolar element is the large fucoid Durvillaea antarctica, which is paradigm of the biogeographic processes of the sub-Antarctic seaweeds in this region. In this chapter, the present state of the cold-temperate seaweed flora is examined in the context of their regional biodiversity, differences with other regions, and major biogeographical processes. Finally, an appraisal of the present and future threats for these seaweeds communities arising from global anthropogenic impacts is provided. |
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