Wildlife of the Galapagos Islands
Although many wildlife-rich places are plagued by humanity, the inhabitability of the Galapagos keeps its wildlife well enough preserved. There is good reason why Charles Darwin chose this place for his infamous study of evolution, and Darwin’s Finches are still there for us to continue studying today. The Galapagos Islands are home to diversity that is unseen in most other places on this Earth. For example, when we imagine the warm, tropical coasts of the Islands, filled with tropical fish and corals, can we imagine, realistically, that we would ever see penguins and sea lions swim by? In the Galapagos, this is a reality. And it is unlike anything you will ever see anywhere else. The amazing variety of sea birds and land birds, like the Waved Albatrosses, Flightless Cormorants and the Blue-footed Booby, many of which present a beautiful and unique dance for attracting mates, along with their other relative species; and the Finches, that all derived from the same ancestor, which now have thirteen different species, all with varying beak sizes and special niches, are just a small fraction of what the Galapagos has to offer. The number of different sea turtle species, to the Galapagos Giant Tortoise, majority of which reside on the largest Galapagos island, Isabella, and the marine and land iguana species just to name a few more. The Galapagos Islands are truly one of the greatest biodiversity hotspots on Earth, and therefore, its protection and sustainability is of utmost importance to environmentalists across the globe.
Galapagos- Conserving the Last Eden: Research Experiences in the Galapagos Islands
A research scientist for the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre’s Ocean Pollution Research Program, Juan Jose Alava, has conducted extensive research on the thirteen Galapagos islands, the last Eden, as he describes it; the youngest island in the archipelago being about 300 to 600 thousand years old, and the oldest dating somewhere from 8 to 10 hundred million years old, and residing underwater today.
Regarding oceanic currents and their role in the biological richness that makes up the Galapagos, Alava points out the importance of the location of the archipelago and how the meeting point between the Humboldt Current from the south of the Islands, and the Panama Current from the north, meeting with the Cromwell Current from the west, and forming the Equatorial Undercurrent, causes a high productivity upwelling right at the Islands. Therefore, people like Charles Darwin have studied this specific area, as it has always been a hotspot, environmentally and biologically speaking. The Galapagos Islands is home to some of the most grandiose endemic species to count, and the only marine iguana in the world.
Galapagos biodiversity is under intense pressure, and in times of worsening climate change the endemic species living there are in peril. The introduction of invasive species, growing human populations to the area, burgeoning tourism, and increased pollution are all affecting the Islands species richness in fauna and flora. When looking at demographic growth in the Galapagos from 1979 to 2005, there is clear overpopulation not only of human inhabitants but what they bring and leave behind as well, including materials, fuel, and energy inputs. The continent of Ecuador has ceased all open access for people in the mainland to move onto the Islands in hopes that this can be reversed, or rather, not worsened any further. After all, these Island are the Last Eden, or some of the very few, and must be protected and conserved. Most importantly, protection against pollution that is brought on by the human population, including but not limited to oil spills and other offshore pollution, introduction of invasive species, and overindustrializing of the beautiful lands. Juan Jose Alava does his best, along with the Vancouver Aquarium, in recruiting people who are passionate about conserving the Galapagos Islands and the fauna and flora that inhabit it, by conducting expeditions that will train Galapagos rangers, and working on projects such as capturing endemic species and species such as the sea lion, and preforming biopsies on them in an effort to see how pollution is affecting the wildlife of the Galapagos. Oceanic pollution from pesticides and chemicals like DDT is of utmost concern in the global pollution spectrum.
Submarine Volcanic Morphology
To better understand the volcanic morphology of the Galapagos Islands, and the deep submarine flanks (linear or gently curving ridges) and volcanoes at the bottom of the western portions of Fernandina, Isabela, and Santiago Islands, a compilation of high-resolution multibeam bathymetric and existing MR1 side-scan sonar data was used to investigate the hotspot archipelago. What it shows, in short, is the matter-of-fact identification of at least four rift zone-associated volcanic morphologies, pointed cones, cones with deep craters, flat-topped cones, and vents. “Cones” refers to underwater volcanoes, which are vents or fissures in the Earth’s surface from which magma can erupt. The most recent site of volcanism to date is at the North West Fernandina rift zone.
Feral Goat Eradications on Islands
Much like the feral pigs and donkeys mentioned under Guayaquil, feral goats introduced to the Islands are not only major drivers of extinction, but are particularly devasting to island ecosystems for a number of reasons, and through causation of direct and indirect impacts, most specifically seen as a product of overgrazing. Overgrazing of animals that are not endemic or native to the Islands has a high impact on biodiversity loss and loss of conservation of endemic flora and fauna species. Introduced herbivores, rats, and feral cats and the biggest problem introductions that the Islands have seen, and their eradication is always top priority as their presence causes the largest amount of native species loss that is seen from century to century. Invasive mammals like the feral goat on islands can be eradicated by trapping, hunting, poisoning, biocontrol, or some combination, although the most common method used in goat eradication is hunting.
Galapagos Population Growth and Tourism
Although it was hard to envision that the Galapagos Islands would become one of the world’s most premier ecotourism destinations, it held true; Galapagos tourism would contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to Ecuador’s national economy, and in turn, would cause population growth in the Galapagos exceeding anyone’s wildest expectation. As the Galapagos tourism industry developed, it became both a blessing and a curse. A blessing to mainland Ecuador, in the fact that it would bring in exorbitant funds for the country. A curse in that the newfound over-population and separate tourism would harm the Islands’ beauty in many ways, including but not limited to: unsustainable population growth, socioeconomic stratification, civil unrest, strained public services and infrastructure, an increase in the number of invasive species, and a number of conflicts with conservation goals and authorities. As a matter of fact, many island visitors claim that they would have spent much more time in mainland Ecuador had they not had access to the Galapagos Archipelago. This goes to show that although mainland Ecuador is one of the most beautifully diverse countries on Earth, their poor infrastructure, socioeconomic status, and ability to promote the wonders of their land is stopping the country from what could come, of ecotourism and tourism alike, to the mainland. Today, the country of Ecuador has actually seized the availability of Ecuadorians, and outsiders, from moving onto the Galapagos Islands, as they strategically aim to reduce the population on the Islands, once home only to a diverse and endemic group of species that would call the Islands their native home.
Galapagos Sustainable Ecotourism
The demand for ecotours has changed the name of travel and what could come from it. Although there are negatives to what overpopulation and over-tourism could mean for destinations such as the Galapagos Islands, there are also the upsides. In fact, increased ecotourism comes with people who are willing to contribute, donate, and work to conserve the life and liberty of the Islands. Clientele want to do more than relax by the pool in a sunny location; they want to contribute something to a place, take away a special memory, or enhance their education. Ecotours can provide this, and through this sort of hands-on education, people visiting are more likely to want to conserve, and additionally, spread the word about conservation and what a hotspot like the Galapagos means to this Earth. It is important that this sort of knowledge is speed throughout, so that more jurisdiction on the protection and conservation of biologically diverse and ‘hotspot’ places such as the Galapagos Islands can be made and put into place. These are places that we, as a human species, cannot let go to waste or be disregarded. These species and these diverse places need our attention and care. Before long, with climate changes and pollution, they may no longer exist, and the last thing we would want to be is the sole cause.
Evolution in the Galapagos; Charles Darwin’s Work ‘On the Origin of Species’
In 1831, Charles Darwin set out on The Beagle to explore an idea that would change history, ecological concepts worldwide, and how the evolution of species is seen and understood. Darwin realized throughout his voyage of South American islands that certain species differed from island to island, particularly species like the mockingbird, giant tortoise, and of course, what has come to be referred to as Darwin’s finches. Darwin visited only four of the Galapagos Islands, but during his time there managed to collect many bird, plant, and animal specimens to study. He saw many “aboriginal” creations, what we now know as endemic species, or species that are specific to the island. He saw differences between these species, and differences between what each island of the South American islands had to offer that was original from all the rest; believing to have discovered the origin of species based off these aboriginal findings and what they might mean. Darwin’s study is famous mostly for his observation of the thirteen different finch species that live on the Galapagos Islands. Each of the thirteen different species have varying beak sizes based on their niche in the ecosystem. The driving force of the evolution that Darwin would observe from his finches, and from which can easily be seen from the study of Daphne Major, a much smaller volcanic crater island just north of Santa Cruz Island, is natural selection based off the availability of seeds and their sizes from dispersal. This evolution happens quite rapidly and goes to show why different islands would have different finches, different mockingbirds, and even different tortoises.
Galapagos Finch Evolution
Researchers focus on places where new speciation is arising in real time. The Galapagos Islands have proven to be some of the most abundant and fast acting. The Grants have been researching Daphne Major and the Galapagos Islands in an attempt to pick up where Darwin left off. They made remarkable new discoveries on Darwin’s Galapagos finches; finches that many years before, Darwin nearly mistook for completely unrelated species due to their vast differences. The most profound discovery that was uncovered by the researches was that all thirteen species of finch on the Islands were more closely related to each other, than to any other finch species on the mainland! This goes to show that evolution did in fact happen on the Islands, rather than multiple different species migrating to the Islands from the mainland. One initial mainland species would have migrated to the Galapagos, and from there, natural selection and adaptations would work to begin distinguishing different species from one another.
The Origin of Birds
There are over 10,000 species of bird with feathered wings living on Earth today and have been one of the most sought-after categories of living being to study. Fossil findings have been the most helpful and prominent in the understanding of the origin of birds, beginning with their flightless ancestors many years before us. Charles Darwin said, in his On the Origin of Species, that all living beings came from another before them. This is the idea of evolution, and the natural selection which would bring it on. The first fossil to be found of archaeopteryx, the Ancient Wing, unearthed from a limestone quarry in Germany, was so remarkable in that it showed a creature with feathered wings in stunning detail, and from this, we can concur that the true ancestor did live many years ago. The ancestor is believed to be the reptile known as the dinosaur—stunningly enough, the theropod, like the tyrannosaurus rex, is actually the direct ancestor of bird species today as we see a number of similarities concluding evolution to bird species; these theropod creatures had a similar wishbone, foot and feet digit structure, and had hallow structured bones, all comparable to the modern bird. Additionally, fuzzy and furry theropods were later discovered, which would add more solidification to the argument. Another idea that this discovery left to reevaluate was the idea that feathers were an evolutionary physical trait that would come with flight. However, the theropods discovered were flightless—they did not have wings—so clearly, this was something to be evaluated. Today, it is understood that fur and feathers must have evolved as a method of insulation, and to keep a creature warm, and although we now understand that feathers predate flight, it is much easier to understand why.
Although many wildlife-rich places are plagued by humanity, the inhabitability of the Galapagos keeps its wildlife well enough preserved. There is good reason why Charles Darwin chose this place for his infamous study of evolution, and Darwin’s Finches are still there for us to continue studying today. The Galapagos Islands are home to diversity that is unseen in most other places on this Earth. For example, when we imagine the warm, tropical coasts of the Islands, filled with tropical fish and corals, can we imagine, realistically, that we would ever see penguins and sea lions swim by? In the Galapagos, this is a reality. And it is unlike anything you will ever see anywhere else. The amazing variety of sea birds and land birds, like the Waved Albatrosses, Flightless Cormorants and the Blue-footed Booby, many of which present a beautiful and unique dance for attracting mates, along with their other relative species; and the Finches, that all derived from the same ancestor, which now have thirteen different species, all with varying beak sizes and special niches, are just a small fraction of what the Galapagos has to offer. The number of different sea turtle species, to the Galapagos Giant Tortoise, majority of which reside on the largest Galapagos island, Isabella, and the marine and land iguana species just to name a few more. The Galapagos Islands are truly one of the greatest biodiversity hotspots on Earth, and therefore, its protection and sustainability is of utmost importance to environmentalists across the globe.
Galapagos- Conserving the Last Eden: Research Experiences in the Galapagos Islands
A research scientist for the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre’s Ocean Pollution Research Program, Juan Jose Alava, has conducted extensive research on the thirteen Galapagos islands, the last Eden, as he describes it; the youngest island in the archipelago being about 300 to 600 thousand years old, and the oldest dating somewhere from 8 to 10 hundred million years old, and residing underwater today.
Regarding oceanic currents and their role in the biological richness that makes up the Galapagos, Alava points out the importance of the location of the archipelago and how the meeting point between the Humboldt Current from the south of the Islands, and the Panama Current from the north, meeting with the Cromwell Current from the west, and forming the Equatorial Undercurrent, causes a high productivity upwelling right at the Islands. Therefore, people like Charles Darwin have studied this specific area, as it has always been a hotspot, environmentally and biologically speaking. The Galapagos Islands is home to some of the most grandiose endemic species to count, and the only marine iguana in the world.
Galapagos biodiversity is under intense pressure, and in times of worsening climate change the endemic species living there are in peril. The introduction of invasive species, growing human populations to the area, burgeoning tourism, and increased pollution are all affecting the Islands species richness in fauna and flora. When looking at demographic growth in the Galapagos from 1979 to 2005, there is clear overpopulation not only of human inhabitants but what they bring and leave behind as well, including materials, fuel, and energy inputs. The continent of Ecuador has ceased all open access for people in the mainland to move onto the Islands in hopes that this can be reversed, or rather, not worsened any further. After all, these Island are the Last Eden, or some of the very few, and must be protected and conserved. Most importantly, protection against pollution that is brought on by the human population, including but not limited to oil spills and other offshore pollution, introduction of invasive species, and overindustrializing of the beautiful lands. Juan Jose Alava does his best, along with the Vancouver Aquarium, in recruiting people who are passionate about conserving the Galapagos Islands and the fauna and flora that inhabit it, by conducting expeditions that will train Galapagos rangers, and working on projects such as capturing endemic species and species such as the sea lion, and preforming biopsies on them in an effort to see how pollution is affecting the wildlife of the Galapagos. Oceanic pollution from pesticides and chemicals like DDT is of utmost concern in the global pollution spectrum.
Submarine Volcanic Morphology
To better understand the volcanic morphology of the Galapagos Islands, and the deep submarine flanks (linear or gently curving ridges) and volcanoes at the bottom of the western portions of Fernandina, Isabela, and Santiago Islands, a compilation of high-resolution multibeam bathymetric and existing MR1 side-scan sonar data was used to investigate the hotspot archipelago. What it shows, in short, is the matter-of-fact identification of at least four rift zone-associated volcanic morphologies, pointed cones, cones with deep craters, flat-topped cones, and vents. “Cones” refers to underwater volcanoes, which are vents or fissures in the Earth’s surface from which magma can erupt. The most recent site of volcanism to date is at the North West Fernandina rift zone.
Feral Goat Eradications on Islands
Much like the feral pigs and donkeys mentioned under Guayaquil, feral goats introduced to the Islands are not only major drivers of extinction, but are particularly devasting to island ecosystems for a number of reasons, and through causation of direct and indirect impacts, most specifically seen as a product of overgrazing. Overgrazing of animals that are not endemic or native to the Islands has a high impact on biodiversity loss and loss of conservation of endemic flora and fauna species. Introduced herbivores, rats, and feral cats and the biggest problem introductions that the Islands have seen, and their eradication is always top priority as their presence causes the largest amount of native species loss that is seen from century to century. Invasive mammals like the feral goat on islands can be eradicated by trapping, hunting, poisoning, biocontrol, or some combination, although the most common method used in goat eradication is hunting.
Galapagos Population Growth and Tourism
Although it was hard to envision that the Galapagos Islands would become one of the world’s most premier ecotourism destinations, it held true; Galapagos tourism would contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to Ecuador’s national economy, and in turn, would cause population growth in the Galapagos exceeding anyone’s wildest expectation. As the Galapagos tourism industry developed, it became both a blessing and a curse. A blessing to mainland Ecuador, in the fact that it would bring in exorbitant funds for the country. A curse in that the newfound over-population and separate tourism would harm the Islands’ beauty in many ways, including but not limited to: unsustainable population growth, socioeconomic stratification, civil unrest, strained public services and infrastructure, an increase in the number of invasive species, and a number of conflicts with conservation goals and authorities. As a matter of fact, many island visitors claim that they would have spent much more time in mainland Ecuador had they not had access to the Galapagos Archipelago. This goes to show that although mainland Ecuador is one of the most beautifully diverse countries on Earth, their poor infrastructure, socioeconomic status, and ability to promote the wonders of their land is stopping the country from what could come, of ecotourism and tourism alike, to the mainland. Today, the country of Ecuador has actually seized the availability of Ecuadorians, and outsiders, from moving onto the Galapagos Islands, as they strategically aim to reduce the population on the Islands, once home only to a diverse and endemic group of species that would call the Islands their native home.
Galapagos Sustainable Ecotourism
The demand for ecotours has changed the name of travel and what could come from it. Although there are negatives to what overpopulation and over-tourism could mean for destinations such as the Galapagos Islands, there are also the upsides. In fact, increased ecotourism comes with people who are willing to contribute, donate, and work to conserve the life and liberty of the Islands. Clientele want to do more than relax by the pool in a sunny location; they want to contribute something to a place, take away a special memory, or enhance their education. Ecotours can provide this, and through this sort of hands-on education, people visiting are more likely to want to conserve, and additionally, spread the word about conservation and what a hotspot like the Galapagos means to this Earth. It is important that this sort of knowledge is speed throughout, so that more jurisdiction on the protection and conservation of biologically diverse and ‘hotspot’ places such as the Galapagos Islands can be made and put into place. These are places that we, as a human species, cannot let go to waste or be disregarded. These species and these diverse places need our attention and care. Before long, with climate changes and pollution, they may no longer exist, and the last thing we would want to be is the sole cause.
Evolution in the Galapagos; Charles Darwin’s Work ‘On the Origin of Species’
In 1831, Charles Darwin set out on The Beagle to explore an idea that would change history, ecological concepts worldwide, and how the evolution of species is seen and understood. Darwin realized throughout his voyage of South American islands that certain species differed from island to island, particularly species like the mockingbird, giant tortoise, and of course, what has come to be referred to as Darwin’s finches. Darwin visited only four of the Galapagos Islands, but during his time there managed to collect many bird, plant, and animal specimens to study. He saw many “aboriginal” creations, what we now know as endemic species, or species that are specific to the island. He saw differences between these species, and differences between what each island of the South American islands had to offer that was original from all the rest; believing to have discovered the origin of species based off these aboriginal findings and what they might mean. Darwin’s study is famous mostly for his observation of the thirteen different finch species that live on the Galapagos Islands. Each of the thirteen different species have varying beak sizes based on their niche in the ecosystem. The driving force of the evolution that Darwin would observe from his finches, and from which can easily be seen from the study of Daphne Major, a much smaller volcanic crater island just north of Santa Cruz Island, is natural selection based off the availability of seeds and their sizes from dispersal. This evolution happens quite rapidly and goes to show why different islands would have different finches, different mockingbirds, and even different tortoises.
Galapagos Finch Evolution
Researchers focus on places where new speciation is arising in real time. The Galapagos Islands have proven to be some of the most abundant and fast acting. The Grants have been researching Daphne Major and the Galapagos Islands in an attempt to pick up where Darwin left off. They made remarkable new discoveries on Darwin’s Galapagos finches; finches that many years before, Darwin nearly mistook for completely unrelated species due to their vast differences. The most profound discovery that was uncovered by the researches was that all thirteen species of finch on the Islands were more closely related to each other, than to any other finch species on the mainland! This goes to show that evolution did in fact happen on the Islands, rather than multiple different species migrating to the Islands from the mainland. One initial mainland species would have migrated to the Galapagos, and from there, natural selection and adaptations would work to begin distinguishing different species from one another.
The Origin of Birds
There are over 10,000 species of bird with feathered wings living on Earth today and have been one of the most sought-after categories of living being to study. Fossil findings have been the most helpful and prominent in the understanding of the origin of birds, beginning with their flightless ancestors many years before us. Charles Darwin said, in his On the Origin of Species, that all living beings came from another before them. This is the idea of evolution, and the natural selection which would bring it on. The first fossil to be found of archaeopteryx, the Ancient Wing, unearthed from a limestone quarry in Germany, was so remarkable in that it showed a creature with feathered wings in stunning detail, and from this, we can concur that the true ancestor did live many years ago. The ancestor is believed to be the reptile known as the dinosaur—stunningly enough, the theropod, like the tyrannosaurus rex, is actually the direct ancestor of bird species today as we see a number of similarities concluding evolution to bird species; these theropod creatures had a similar wishbone, foot and feet digit structure, and had hallow structured bones, all comparable to the modern bird. Additionally, fuzzy and furry theropods were later discovered, which would add more solidification to the argument. Another idea that this discovery left to reevaluate was the idea that feathers were an evolutionary physical trait that would come with flight. However, the theropods discovered were flightless—they did not have wings—so clearly, this was something to be evaluated. Today, it is understood that fur and feathers must have evolved as a method of insulation, and to keep a creature warm, and although we now understand that feathers predate flight, it is much easier to understand why.