The Galapagos Islands are at the cutting edge of science again – this time as the unfortunate bellwether for global warming and its destructive effects on marine and coastal ecosystems.

A recent article in the journal, Global Change Biology, reports that the warming of waters in the Galapagos by El Niño events, compounded by the unrestrained harvesting of sea life, has brought about devastating changes. It has led to the disappearance or threat of extinction of  45 species in Galapagos, including five mammals, six birds, five reptiles, six fishes, and seven corals. Among those threatened are the Mangrove Finch, Galapagos Sea Lion, Marine Iguana, and Galapagos Penguin.

The report follows a major scientific meeting convened last year by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment, the Galapagos National Park Service, Conservation International, World Wildlife Fund and other organizations. The aim was to assess the Galapagos’ vulnerability to climate change.

It found that the 1982 El Niño event, in particular, warmed Galapagos’ waters by several degrees, wiping out large areas of coral and kelp beds. The Galapagos Damsel (Azurina eupalama), once common, was not sighted after 1983. Galapagos Penguins declined to a critical level and are now within ”a hairsbreadth of annihilation.”

Compounding the effects of the 1982 and subsequent El Niño’s has been the massive and unsustainable harvesting of lobsters, sea cucumbers, and large predatory fish. This overfishing increased the population of sea urchins, which overgrazed corals and prevented their recovery.

Sylvia Earle, a leading authority on the world’s oceans, and one of the report’s co-authors, wrote,

“Nowhere on Earth are the combined impacts of climate change and overfishing more clearly defined than in the Galapagos Islands where unique assemblages of wildlife live on the sharp edge of change. Decades of data link recent fishing pressures to disruption of the islands’ fine-tuned systems, making them more vulnerable to natural – and anthropogenic changes in climate.”

Gabriel Lopez, Executive Director of the Charles Darwin Foundation, states,

“It is almost certain El Nino events will be more frequent, more intense” and could have a “devastating impact on the island’s endemic species like sea lions and marine iguanas.”

The report emphasized that Galapagos is a canary in the coal mine, a preview of what will happen to the world’s marine and coastal ecosystems as sea temperatures rise.

Report co-author, Professor Les Kaufmann from Boston University said,

“The Galapagos, the Rosetta Stone of evolution, is now teaching us the far-reaching impacts of climate change on ocean ecosystems. Though too late to stop, we now know that the impacts of climate change can be softened by cutting back on fishing. The wildlife we eat today was part of the inner workings of an ecosystem which was under stress from global climate change and when these ecosystems are damaged, species and livelihoods can vanish in a heartbeat.”

See also:

Galapagos: the “Rosetta Stone of Evolution” faces devastation from climate change and fishing

Galapagos Islands are transformed 

Wildlife of Galapagos Islands ‘devastated by ocean warming’

According to a recent article in the Journal of Wildlife Management, the eradication of feral goats (Capra hircus) - an invasive and destructive, non-native species - from Santiago Island is now considered complete.  Goats were first introduced to Santiago Island, which sits in the middle of the Galapagos archipelago, during the 1920s.  The goats grazed the island mercilessly, causing erosion, threatening the survival of rare plants and trees and competing with native fauna, such as the giant tortoise.

All 80,000 goats have been culled from the 58,500 hectare island, making this the largest successful eradication of a mammal species from a island ever achieved.  The program began in 2001, with the eradication thought completed in 2005.  The island was then monitored for three years to be sure of success.

Reportedly, removing the first 90% of the goats was easy, but in order to remove the last 10%, the team of conservationists and scientists had to employ a variety of creative techniques like the use of “Judas” goats.  Judas goats were radio-collared, released and tracked as they made their way toward remnant goat herds, allowing team members to locate and eradicate hard-to-find groups of the animals.

The total cost of the eradication and monitoring was $6.1 million, not a small sum, but one that officials say will save management dollars in the long run.  The same group has since cleared the neighboring Isabela Island of goats, which at a whopping 459,000 hectares is even larger than Santiago Island.  That project has yet to be written up for publication, but already native species are beginning to bounce back.

The project is among the most spectacular of a new wave of very ambitious island eradications. “It is incredibly inspiring,” says ecologist Daniel Simberloff of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, who blames “pessimism” for a lack of earlier attempts on this scale. “You have to decide in advance that you are going to stick it out and not get discouraged if the last ones are hard to get,” Simberloff says. “I think there will be a lot more of this.”

Source:  Nature.com