scholarly journals Modeling the strategies to eradicate rats introduced in the Galapagos Islands

Bionatura ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 1427-1433
Author(s):  
Camila Velastegui ◽  
Mary Pulgar-Sánchez ◽  
Kevin Chamorro
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Theoretical Study ◽  
Current Method ◽  
Galapagos Islands ◽  
Galápagos Islands ◽  
Natural Evolution ◽  
Collateral Consequences ◽  
Suitable Alternative ◽  
Coexisting Species

The Galapagos Islands are well known for their incredible biodiversity and the inspiration for Charles Darwin's natural evolution theory. It is an ecosystem that has evolved without predators, so their native species are unfit for competition. As a result, this biodiversity has been threatened by invasive species like rats (Black and Norwegian). Nowadays, the primary strategy to control rats is by having drones that disperse a unique poisoned bait. Our study aims to mathematically model the strategies to eradicate rats in islands, based on previously reported processes. As a result, we are obtaining the approximated time to reduce its population as much as being eradicated, without threatening the coexisting species. We also propose a suitable alternative to be applied in the Galapagos Islands to recover their biodiversity richness. We find that rats' introduction has caused a decrease in the native species due to having specific traits that make them fitter in different situations. The best method to control species in such a sensitive environment is by the use of anticoagulant rodenticides. The current method used for eradicating rats seems to be the most profitable even though there is not enough information to see the collateral consequences of the poison technique. Furthermore, we propose this theoretical study complemented with in situ samplings to corroborate our hypothesis and improve our prediction model.

An Overview of Maritime Transportation Dynamics-Mobilization and Livelihood in Galápagos Islands

2021 ◽  
pp. 52-90
Author(s):  
María Belén Arteaga-Custode ◽  
Claudia Fernanda Betancourt-Ruiz ◽  
María Serena López-Donoso ◽  
Sophia Veronique Nieto-Vasco ◽  
Carolina Stefanía Pantoja-Cabrera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Information ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Galapagos Islands ◽  
Maritime Transportation ◽  
Floating Population ◽  
In Situ Observation ◽  
Galápagos Islands ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Official Sources

The Galápagos Islands are one of the biggest marine reserves in the world, home to a complex dynamic between its inhabitants, tourists, and biodiversity. Therefore, control over the logistics surrounding the resulting human mobilization process is fundamental to minimize the impact on the Islands' natural resources. This research gathers relevant information regarding the operation of the maritime transportation system of the islands and the waste management of its floating population based on official sources as well as in-situ observation. This chapter includes three sections with the purpose of maximizing the range of information analyzed. The first section covers the maritime cargo transportation from the continent to the islands. The second one covers the transportation of people between the islands, and the third covers the transportation and management of waste produced by each island. The information covers the institutions and policies that govern each of the systems considered and can serve to optimize the transportation logistics of the Galápagos Islands.

scholarly journals Non-native small terrestrial vertebrates in the Galapagos

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego F Cisneros-Heredia
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Galapagos Islands ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Tree Frog ◽  
Galápagos Islands ◽  
Species Introduction ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
History Of

Humans have translocated thousands of species of flora, fauna and microorganisms to places they would never have reached on their own. Non-native species may have effects on biological communities, ecosystem functions and human populations. In island environments, the effects of spreading non-native species on native biodiversity can be severe and lead to native ecosystem transformation and even endemic species extinction. The Galapagos Islands are a region of particular interest and relevance to the issue of species introduction and invasiveness. In this paper, I analyse the current status of 25 non-native amphibians, reptiles and birds that have been reported in the Galapagos Islands. Six species have established self-sufficiently in Galapagos and may become invasive: Fowler’s snouted tree frog Scinax quinquefasciatus, common house gecko Hemidactylus frenatus, mourning gecko Lepidodactylus lugubris, dwarf gecko Gonatodes caudiscutatus, Peters’ leaf-toed gecko Phyllodactylus reissii, and smooth-billed ani Crotophaga ani. Domestic fowl Gallus gallus holds feral populations, which may have self-sufficient populations, but evidence is unclear. I provide information on the distribution and natural history of non-native species of amphibians, reptiles and birds in Galapagos, including new data about the introduction history of S. quinquefasciatus; evidence on the establishment of H. frenatus on Isabela and San Cristobal islands; the first published record of a non-native snake in Galapagos, Lampropeltis micropholis; the first evidence of predation on squamate reptiles by G. gallus in Galapagos; and evidence of a probable major impact by C. ani due to extensive predation on the endemic Galapagos carpenter bee Xylocopa darwini. I comment on the invasiveness and impact potential of non-native species in Galapagos, identify vulnerable islands for the arrival of non-native species, identify potential hitchhiker that could arrive in the future and propose that it is important to rethink about how we understand, manage and prevent introductions of non-native species. The new wave of introduced species in Galapagos is formed by small hitchhikers, species that are easily overlooked, may travel in high numbers and are highly linked to human-made environments.

New shallow-water sponges (Porifera) from the Galápagos Islands

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5012 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-71
Author(s):  
CARINA SIM-SMITH ◽  
CLEVELAND HICKMAN, JR ◽  
MICHELLE KELLY
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
Shallow Water ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Galapagos Islands ◽  
Eastern Pacific Ocean ◽  
Galápagos Islands ◽  
Scuba Divers ◽  
First Time

Twenty-five new species of shallow-water sponges are described from the Galápagos Islands, a province of Ecuador in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Sponges were photographed in situ and collected by SCUBA divers between 2001 and 2004. New species include: Acanthancora equiformis sp. nov., Acanthella saladinorum sp. nov., Cacospongia hermanorum sp. nov., Cinachyrella solis sp. nov., Ciocalypta bustamanti sp. nov., Clathria (Microciona) stellata sp. nov., Clathrina andreusi sp. nov., Craniella lissi sp. nov., Dragmacidon raeae sp. nov., Dragmacidon hendersoni sp. nov., Haliclona (Haliclona) clairae sp. nov., Haliclona (Haliclona) dianae sp. nov., Haliclona (Reniera) oberi sp. nov., Haliclona (Soestella) spuma sp. nov., Haliclona (Soestella) roslynae sp. nov., Hemimycale harlequinus sp. nov., Hemimycale nathani sp. nov., Higginsia johannae sp. nov., Neopetrosia eructans sp. nov., Leucilla agitata sp. nov., Penares angeli sp. nov., Prosuberites vansoesti sp. nov., Suberea esmerelda sp. nov., Tethya annona sp. nov. and Tethya sorbetus sp. nov. In addition, three species have been recorded for the first time from the Galápagos Islands: Chalinula cf. molitba (De Laubenfels, 1949), Chelonaplysilla violacea (Von Lendenfeld, 1883) and Tedania (Tedania) tropicalis Aguilar-Camacho, Carballo & Cruz-Barraza, 2018. This paper represents a significant contribution to our knowledge of the Porifera of the Galápagos Islands.

Galápagos Islands

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter V. N. Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Endemic Species ◽  
Native Species ◽  
National Park ◽  
Galapagos Islands ◽  
Galápagos Islands ◽  
Fresh Meat ◽  
Fragile Environment ◽  
The Government ◽  
Feral Animals ◽  
Unique Species

The Galápagos Islands, long acknowledged as Darwin’s “Living Laboratory,” are one of the world’s most important ecological treasures. From their discovery in 1535 until the creation of the Galápagos National Park in 1959, human hands touched lightly on their shores. Seemingly incapable of sustaining colonization because of poor soil, a scarcity of water, and no mineral wealth, the absence of humans allowed the native species of the Galápagos to remain undisturbed until whalers in the 1790s found that the lumbering Galápagos tortoises could be stored for months in their ship’s holds as a source of fresh meat. In 1832 Ecuador took possession of the archipelago but its colonization efforts generally failed. Although human settlement remained minimal, mammals that people brought (goats, donkeys, pigs, dogs, and cats) flourished and diminished the numbers of the endemic species. When the Galápagos National Park opened, only about 2,000 people lived on the islands along with the remaining endemic species and hundreds of thousands of feral animals. Meanwhile, naturalist Charles Darwin’s remarkable 1859 study, On the Origins of Species had stimulated biologists’ interest in the islands’ wildlife by presenting overwhelming proof of evolution. Other biologists questioned his idea of natural selection as the mechanism behind evolution; consequently they gathered evidence from collected specimens and observations in the archipelago, and finally resolved the debate in Darwin’s favor. After 1990, popular interest in the islands’ wildlife heightened as a result of photography, travelers’ accounts, and films, so tourism increased as did the number of Ecuadorian immigrants eager to earn money in the tourist industry. By 2020, Ecuadorian authorities faced the dilemma of balancing the need to preserve the unique species and their fragile environment against the revenue generated by visitors, a battle environmentalists fear the government is losing.

Diversity and zoogeography of the non-oceanic Crustacea of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador (excluding terrestrial Isopoda)

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stewart B. Peck
Keyword(s):  
Surface Waters ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
High Tide ◽  
Galapagos Islands ◽  
Galápagos Islands ◽  
Pelagic Larvae ◽  
Terrestrial Habitats ◽  
Subterranean Waters ◽  
High Tide Line

Fifty-three species of adult crustaceans (excluding Isopoda) are now known from a diversity of non-oceanic habitats on the Galápagos Islands. These include hypersaline, brackish, and fresh coastal and inland surface waters, anchialine subterranean waters, and terrestrial habitats above the high-tide line such as supralittoral beach wrack and upland leaf litter. The faunal assemblage is physiologically defined by evolving away from the ancestral marine environment, before or after reaching the Galápagos Islands. It is taxonomically diverse and includes Notostraca, Conchostraca, Anostraca, Ostracoda (Myodocopa and Podocopa), Copepoda (Calanoida and Cyclopoida), Tanaidacea, Amphipoda, and Decapoda (Caridea, Anomura, and Brachyura). All members of the fauna (or their progenitors) have dispersed across an oceanic gap of at least 1000 km and have colonized the archipelago by three principal methods: (1) as swimming pelagic larvae or adults that dispersed passively by being carried through the sea; (2) through passive transport of nonswimming forms by rafting in or on floating debris on the sea surface; and (3) through passive biological transport of propagules by birds or insects. There is no direct evidence for the aerial (wind) transport of desiccation-resistant dormant stages such as eggs, but it is possible that this has occurred. Twenty-eight species are native and 25 are endemic. The supralittoral species and those in both temporary and permanent surface waters are generally native and widespread in the Americas. Three amphipod genera and one crab genus are endemic. Subterranean (anchialine) waters contain a high percentage of (often eyeless) endemics. The largest evolutionary shift is represented by an upland terrestrial amphipod that has evolved in situ from an ancestral supralittoral species.

scholarly journals Reconstructing the history and biological consequences of a plant invasion on the Galápagos islands

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J.S. Gibson ◽  
María de Lourdes Torres ◽  
Yaniv Brandvain ◽  
Leonie C. Moyle
Keyword(s):  
Endemic Species ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Galapagos Islands ◽  
Fruit Color ◽  
Galápagos Islands ◽  
Natural Experiments ◽  
Wild Tomato ◽  
Population Genomic ◽  
History Of

AbstractThe introduction of non-native species into new habitats is one of the foremost risks to global biodiversity. Here, we evaluate a recent invasion of wild tomato (Solanum pimpinellifolium) onto the Galápagos islands from a population genomic perspective, using a large panel of novel collections from the archipelago as well as historical accessions from mainland Ecuador and Peru. We infer a recent invasion of S. pimpinellifolium on the islands, largely the result of a single event from central Ecuador which, despite its recency, has rapidly spread onto several islands in the Galápagos. By reconstructing patterns of local ancestry throughout the genomes of invasive plants, we uncover evidence for recent hybridization and introgression between S. pimpinellifolium and the closely related endemic species Solanum cheesmaniae. Two large introgressed regions overlap with known fruit color loci involved in carotenoid biosynthesis. Instead of red fruits, admixed individuals with endemic haplotypes at these loci have orange fruit colors that are typically characteristic of the endemic species. We therefore infer that introgression explains the observed trait convergence. Moreover, we infer roles for two independent loci in driving this pattern, and a likely history of selection favoring the repeated phenotypic transition from red to orange fruits. Together, our data reconstruct a complex history of invasion, expansion, and gene flow among wild tomatoes on the Galápagos islands. These findings provide critical data on the evolutionary importance of hybridization during colonization and its role in influencing conservation outcomes.Significance StatementThe isolation and unique diversity of the Galápagos Islands provide numerous natural experiments that have enriched our understanding of evolutionary biology. Here we use population genomic sequencing to reconstruct the timing, path, and consequences of a biological invasion by wild tomato onto the Galápagos. We infer that invasive populations originated from a recent human-mediated migration event from central Ecuador. Our data also indicate that invasive populations are hybridizing with endemic populations, and that this has led to some invasive individuals adopting both fruit color genes and the fruit color characteristic of the endemic island species. Our results demonstrate how hybridization can shape patterns of trait evolution over very short time scales, and characterize genetic factors underlying invasive success.

scholarly journals Cucumis dipsaceus (hedgehog gourd).

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shruti Dube
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Galapagos Islands ◽  
Natural Ecosystem ◽  
Galápagos Islands ◽  
Large Area ◽  
The World

Abstract Cucumis dipsaceus is an annual climbing herb native to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula that has become invasive in many regions around the world where it spread or was introduced. In Mexico, this species is possibly expanding and is classified as an invasive. In the Galapagos Islands C. dipsaceus has invaded a large area and is affecting the natural ecosystem by altering community composition and threatening native species.

scholarly journals Non-native small terrestrial vertebrates in the Galapagos

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego F Cisneros-Heredia
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Galapagos Islands ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Tree Frog ◽  
Galápagos Islands ◽  
Species Introduction ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
History Of

Humans have translocated thousands of species of flora, fauna and microorganisms to places they would never have reached on their own. Non-native species may have effects on biological communities, ecosystem functions and human populations. In island environments, the effects of spreading non-native species on native biodiversity can be severe and lead to native ecosystem transformation and even endemic species extinction. The Galapagos Islands are a region of particular interest and relevance to the issue of species introduction and invasiveness. In this paper, I analyse the current status of 25 non-native amphibians, reptiles and birds that have been reported in the Galapagos Islands. Six species have established self-sufficiently in Galapagos and may become invasive: Fowler’s snouted tree frog Scinax quinquefasciatus, common house gecko Hemidactylus frenatus, mourning gecko Lepidodactylus lugubris, dwarf gecko Gonatodes caudiscutatus, Peters’ leaf-toed gecko Phyllodactylus reissii, and smooth-billed ani Crotophaga ani. Domestic fowl Gallus gallus holds feral populations, which may have self-sufficient populations, but evidence is unclear. I provide information on the distribution and natural history of non-native species of amphibians, reptiles and birds in Galapagos, including new data about the introduction history of S. quinquefasciatus; evidence on the establishment of H. frenatus on Isabela and San Cristobal islands; the first published record of a non-native snake in Galapagos, Lampropeltis micropholis; the first evidence of predation on squamate reptiles by G. gallus in Galapagos; and evidence of a probable major impact by C. ani due to extensive predation on the endemic Galapagos carpenter bee Xylocopa darwini. I comment on the invasiveness and impact potential of non-native species in Galapagos, identify vulnerable islands for the arrival of non-native species, identify potential hitchhiker that could arrive in the future and propose that it is important to rethink about how we understand, manage and prevent introductions of non-native species. The new wave of introduced species in Galapagos is formed by small hitchhikers, species that are easily overlooked, may travel in high numbers and are highly linked to human-made environments.

Nanoplankton from the Galapagos Islands: two genera of spectacular coccolithophorids ( Ophiaster and Calciopappus ), with special emphasis on unmineralized periplast components

1983 ◽  
Vol 300 (1101) ◽  
pp. 435-462 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Galapagos Islands ◽  
Present Knowledge ◽  
Characteristic Surface ◽  
Galápagos Islands ◽  
Elliptical Plate ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Whole Mounts

On the basis of electron microscopy of dry whole mounts of wild material set up in situ mainly in the Galapagos Islands but with two introductory specimens from South Africa, the presence of unmineralized periplast components has been demonstrated in two genera of fully calcified coccolithophorids ( Ophiaster and Calciopappus ) and also in a broken cell, otherwise attributable to Chrysochromulina aff. fragilis Leadbeater. The last possesses many small elliptical plate scales with characteristic surface markings, together with fewer but larger sheet scales, each membranous, flexible, and almost without patterning except at the edge which carries a narrow zone of sparse radial striations. Both types of scale recur in the two coccolithophorid genera, the small elliptical plates as an underlayer beneath the coccoliths and the peripherally streaked membranes individually attached to the proximal surfaces of coccoliths as an integral part of their structure. Though present, these are more difficult to detect in Calciopappus than in Ophiaster in which they have been clearly demonstrated in specimens from both South Africa and the Galapagos Islands. In addition, some types of Ophiaster have also been shown to possess completely patternless membranes, detectable only by their indirect effects, occupying the apparently vacant plate centres of coccoliths in special positions. Other aspects of coccolith substructure are discussed with special reference to recurring difficulties regarding speciation in the two genera. Revised generic descriptions are provided but specific descriptions are limited to Ophiaster . These include revision of the two existing taxa (especially necessary for ‘ O. formosus Gran’) and the erection of three additional new taxa ( O. reductus sp.nov., O. minimus sp.nov. and O. formosus var. inversus var.nov.). The final discussion summarizes and comments on present knowledge of Chrysochromulina fragilis sens. lat. in relation to several genera of coccolithophorids including, but not limited to, Ophiaster and Calciopappus .

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