According to biogeographic studies made two decades ago, marine benthic algal species of the Pacific temperate coast of South America could be grouped into five components according to their geographic affinities. Each of these components was distributed differentially along the coastline between 4º and 56ºS and thus, their contribution to the overall flora varied depending on the latitude. Species composition changed at specific latitudes in such a way that three groups could be observed: from 4 to 6ºS, from 6 to 30ºS and from 30 to 55ºS. Since 1980, new information on marine algae along this coastline allows a review of the previous phytogeographic characterization. The presence/absence of algal species, separated by division and geographic affinity, was... |