Subtropical convergence regions in the southwestern Atlantic have a high biological productivity, and are important as nursery and feeding areas and as reproduction grounds for fishery stocks of subtropical and antarctic origin.This book represents the first multidisciplinary treatise of this large and complex marine ecosystem. It analyses how subtropical convergence and land-sea interactions influence the coast, and sea and their biota. Synthesizing the rapidly expanding information, it provides a comprehensive appraisal of the biological resources, an assessment of their sustainable exploitation, and an evaluation of oceanographic processes. An inventory of all marine taxa in the southwestern Atlantic is included as an appendix. XIV, 308 p.