This work treats the evolutionary biogeography of the marine algae of the North Atlantic. It evaluates the importance of geological history in the evolution of red, brown, and green algae and compares the biogeography of these organisms with various fossil algal and animal systems. Theoretical aspects of biogeography are covered, and a wide variety of methologies are utilized.

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1. Philosophical and Methodological Concerns.- The framing of biogeographic hypotheses.- Quantitative methods and biogeographic analysis.- 2. The Pleistocene and its Aftermath.- Late glacial and Holocene diatom successions in the Gulf of Maine: response to climatologic and oceanographic change.- Seaweed biogeography of the North Atlantic: where are we now?.- 3. Evolutionary Ecology and Adaptation.- Behavioural, morphological and genetic changes in some North Atlantic populations of the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides.- Herbivory and evolution of nongeniculate coralline algae (Rhodophyta, Corallinales) in the North Atlantic and North Pacific.- 4. Approaches to Speciation.- The application of DNA-DNA hybridization in seaweeds and DNA divergence between some amphi-Atlantic Cladophora (Cladophorales, Chlorophyta) species.- Genetics of morphology and growth in Laminaria from the North Atlantic Ocean implications for biogeography.- Sexual compatability and species concept in Ectocarpus siliculosus (Ectocarpales, Phaeophyceae) from Italy, North Carolina, Chile, and New Zealand.- 5. Kelp Evolution.- The distribution and evolution of the Laminariales: North Pacific Atlantic relationships.- Molecular evolution in the Laminariales: a review.- 6. Taxonomy and Biogeography.- Evolutionary biogeography of the North Atlantic Antithamnioid algae.- Distribution and evolution of non-coralline crustose red algae in the North Atlantic.- A preliminary phylogenetic analysis of the Phyllophoraceae, Gigartinaceae and Petrocelidaeeae (Rhodophyta) in the North Atlantic and North Pacific.- 7. Biogeographic Provinces.- Algal provinces in the North Atlantic do they exist?.- 8. Evolution of Floras in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.- Role of the Arctic Ocean as a bridge between theAtlantic and Pacific Oceans: fact and hypothesis.- Biogeography of the marine red algae of the North Atlantic Ocean.- Taxonomic Index.