A critique of traditional approaches to seaweed distribution in light of the development of vicariance biogeography
An overview of the primary approaches to seaweed biogeography is provided in light of the development of vicariance biogeography. Each approach is discussed with particular regard to the extent to which the methods and objectives are compatible with vicariance. Ecological biogeography is considered an offshoot of ecology and physiology and is more appropriate in determining current distributions of organisms and aspects of physiological ecology rather than the speciation history of monophyletic groups. The R/P quotient of Feldmann and distribution of algal life-forms do not fall within the aegis of vicariance and are considered useful only in a descriptive sense. The examination of seaweed spans propounded by Pielou is considered flawed because of the lack of dependence on monophyletic groups. The floristic school of analysis of many seaweed biogeographers is analagous to the panbiogeography of Croizat, and provides the basis for the more concrete phylogenetic hypotheses that are the basis for vicariance analysis. The latter is considered the best methodology for studying the relationship between patterns of cladogenesis and the distribution of constituent taxa.
Biogeography of the benthic marine algae of the North Atlantic Ocean—an overview
An overview of the biogeography of the benthic marine algae of the North Atlantic Ocean is presented. General and specific distribution patterns are discussed in the light of current knowledge of extant species, and of known events in the evolution of the North Atlantic Ocean. The close relationships between the Arctic, NW and NE Atlantic floras suggest their possible origin as a single flora in the early Oligocene Arctic Ocean, when it was isolated by the Bering Land Bridge and the Greenland-Scotland Ridge. Migration of the flora into the North Atlantic Ocean could have occurred with the subsidence of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge. The present day distribution patterns are the main clue to unravelling the past, and study of vicariant amphi-Atlantic taxa using a variety of experimental techniques will yield the most valuable information in attempts to interpret major biogeographical events in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Computer simulations and theory of oceanographic fluorescence lidar signals: effect of sea surface structure.
A 3-D computer simulation model has been developed using geometrical optics suitable for analyzing the effect of sea surface structure on oceanographic fluorescence lidar signals. Depth-resolved and depth-integrated signals reveal a considerable dependence on the surface structure. The results obtained by simulation are confirmed by a theoretical approach based on the transformation of solid angles by curved boundaries. Using statistical assumptions about the distribution of curvatures of the ocean surface, a general expression for this influence is found.