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Charles Darwin Foundation / February 8, 2010
For the first time, an introduced insect is being used as a control agent for another invasive species of insect that is damaging many plants in Galapagos. An Australian ladybug is being used to control an infestation of cotton cushony scale. Studies indicate that the technique is working. If successful, it can be used to control other species that are impossible to eradicate.
Galapagos Conservancy / Feb 03, 2010
Team of Veterinarians Prepare Hybrid Tortoises for Release on Pinta Island in 2010
In November 2009, a group of veterinarians, working with the Galapagos National Park (GNP), prepared 39 hybrid tortoises slated to be the pioneer group to initiate the return of tortoises to Pinta Island. Project Pinta is a multi-year project aimed at the restoration of the island following the successful eradication of goats on Pinta in 2003. While complete island restoration will require the eventual repopulation of Pinta with a reproductive tortoise population, scientists and managers are awaiting the final results from genetic analyses of a massive sampling of tortoises before making the final selection of which tortoises to use.
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’
Scientists report colony of Galápagos sea lions in northern Peru
January 28, 2010 by Andean Air Mail & PERUVIAN TIMES
The Organization for Research and Conservation of Aquatic Animals, or Orca, says a colony of sea lions endemic to the Galápagos Islands have established a colony off the coast of northern Peru as a result of increased sea surface temperature in the region.
The colony includes 30 sea lions that traveled 1,500 kilometers, about 932 miles, from Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands to the Foca Island, located off the coast of Peru’s Piura department, daily El Comercio reported. The president of Orca, Carlos Yaipén, says the Foca colony is the first reported outside the Galápagos archipelago and due to an increase in sea temperature caused by climate change.
The following was reported on Kelowna.com:
New genetic research has identified nine captive giant tortoises as descendants of an “extinct” species formerly endemic to Floreana Island in the Pacific’s Galápagos Islands.
“Based upon our findings, we now have an opportunity to breed the species and maintain the integrity of this distinct lineage,” says Michael Russello, a conservation geneticist at UBC Okanagan.
The species known as Chelonoidis elephantopus went extinct on Floreana Island in the 20th century due to human activities. The ultimate goal is to eventually repatriate the lost tortoise species on Floreana so the island can one day support a self-sustaining breeding population of the endemic giant tortoise.
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