New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts
New Zealand seaweed flora and its relationships*
MURRAY J. PARSONS
Botany Division
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Private Bag, Christchurch
New Zealand
Abstract
The New Zealand botanical region includes New Zealand's three main islands and the Kermadec, Chatham, Solander, Snares, Bounty, Antipodes, Auckland, Campbell, and Macquarie Islands as well as other minor islands within this region. A short resume of the history and present knowledge of the seaweed flora is given. Important ocean currents are illustrated. The seaweed (benthic marine algal) flora consists of: Chlorophyceae, 37 genera (3% endemic), 165 species (38 endemic), 3% undescribed (estimate); Phaeophyceae, 75 genera (7% endemic), 146 species (34% endemic), 6% undescribed; Rhodophyceae, 176 genera (4% endemic), 524 species (47% endemic), 7% undescribed. The floristic relationships between the islands within the region are expressed in terms of percentage of marine algal species each island has that is common with other islands (Table 2). The more important distributions of species are given. The external relationships of this region indicate a cosmopolitan, a circumpolar, and an Australasian element. Species shared with South America or Japan, and introductions within recent times, are discussed.
Keywords New Zealand; seaweed; macroalgae; distribution; botany; biogeography; floristic relationships
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1985, Vol. 19: 131-138 Received 17 September 1984; accepted 29 October 1984
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (556K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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