PELAGIC BIOGEOGRAPHY AND FRONTS

Fronts, in their world-wide occurrence in the oceans at all space and time scales, exert a wide range of effects on the distribution of pelagic organisms including boundary effects, mixing, concentration, taxonomic and ontogenetic selection, enhanced production, initiation of successions, vertical export, and horizontal transport; a list which is not exhaustive. Moreover, at any given time two or more may be interacting to determine distribution patterns. Thus fronts are hydrological structures which have to be given full consideration in biogeographical studies, even if some of their effects are still poorly understood.