Evolution
The most famous discovery to come out of the Darwin's travels to the Galapagos Islands is survival of the fittest and Darwin's Finches. Darwin found thirteen different species of finch on the islands and noticed that they were all very similar and closely related which lead to to idea of natural selection (Adaptive Radiation, n.d). Beak size varies mostly depending on the type of food the finch eat. The main focus of finch evolution is in seed eating ones. Finches with larger beaks eat larger seeds that are harder to break open where as the smaller beaked finches eat smaller seeds. If a smaller beaked finch would spend more energy trying to crack open the seed to eat than it would obtain from eating the seed itself. Essentially this would starve the finch to death. There was an experiment done over a period of 40 years where scientists witnessed natural selection and evolution at it finest. They experienced a period of extreme drought which created an abundance of large seeds. Since there were more amounts of larger seeds present on the island of Daphne Major, smaller beaked finches died out leaving large beaked ones to thrive. This altered the average beak size in the next generation. Since there were more larger beaked finches reproducing, more large beaked finches were hatched the next year. A few years later the opposite happened. El Nino brought more rain which resulted in plenty of small seeds for finches to feed on. Just like in the drought years one of the finch species decreased. In this case small beaked finches outlived most of the large beaked ones which altered the average beak size in the net generation yet again. These two scenarios show why and how species evolve. The species become isolated because of moving around to different islands. When they are separated for a period of time they do not seem to want to reproduce with the ones that were left behind. This along with adaptations to different surroundings create a whole new species.
So, how did bird in general come to be? In the film The Origin of Birds, they discussed the connection between dinosaurs and birds. There are over 10,000 species of birds in the world and based on dinosaur records and fossils they can all be related to one common ancestor. Theropods are this ancestor. After many years the modification of flight evolved through co-option which is when an organisms adopts a dramatically new feature (Dunn, n.d). There were still two types of bird like dinosaur that all had characteristics in present birds. Some had teeth and others were toothless. After the mass extinction, a small group of toothless avian dinosaurs survived and that is why they were able to evolve into the birds we know today.
So, how did bird in general come to be? In the film The Origin of Birds, they discussed the connection between dinosaurs and birds. There are over 10,000 species of birds in the world and based on dinosaur records and fossils they can all be related to one common ancestor. Theropods are this ancestor. After many years the modification of flight evolved through co-option which is when an organisms adopts a dramatically new feature (Dunn, n.d). There were still two types of bird like dinosaur that all had characteristics in present birds. Some had teeth and others were toothless. After the mass extinction, a small group of toothless avian dinosaurs survived and that is why they were able to evolve into the birds we know today.
Trouble in Paradise
There are several factors contributing to the destruction of the islands and their unique species. Feral mammals such as the goats seen in the picture above are one of several that have taken over the islands and caused endemic plants and animals to go extinct. I have mentioned the goat issue in Quayaquil reflections but to summarize; the goats were brought by whalers who traded out their goats for tortoises that would last much longer on their ships thus providing more food. The goats being fast reproducers created and entire population that over took Santiago and Isabella islands. To rid the islands of the invasive goats they started project Isabella to eradicate the goats from the islands. This was mostly done by aerial hunting (hunting from helicopters) with the help of judas goats that were abler o be tracked. After several years, the islands was nearly fully eradicated except for a few judas goats that were left ( these goats were sterile). Along with the hunting of goats, there was huntings and poisonings of feral pigs as well as donkeys. 18,000 feral pigs over a period of 30 years were eradicated from Santiago Island (Cruz, 2004). Pigs will eat pretty much anything since they are omnivores. This caused plants to become extinct because of overgrazing by the pigs goats and donkeys. To get rid of the pigs hunting was introduced as well as poisoning. Bait was set out around the island that was poisoned and after consuming the poisoned goat carcass the pig would die within eight to nine days ( Cruz, 2004). Since this eradication was so successful standards for other animal eradication have been set higher. Feral donkeys are said to have caused the extinction of the Land Iguana on Santiago Island. The donkeys would walk over nests of the Land Iguana and tortoises and the eggs would be trampled and broken. This impacted the amount of iguanas or tortoises in the next generation. Much like the goats and pigs, donkeys were also hunted. As pig hunting increased the number of donkeys decreased and aerial hunting was used as well. Once these feral, invasive animals were eradicated from the islands, the reappearance of endemic plant species began (Cruz, 2004).
Another problem the islands are faced with is population growth. Just as any piece of land when population increases, development does as well. This is no different in the Galapagos Islands. Most of this development started because of the increase in tourism to the islands. Increased visitors meant expanding the airport as well as the roads and hotels to house the increasing tourist population. Expanded mobility will desolate the islands and can lead to further destruction of the unique qualities of the islands (Novy). Also, with human interaction come many issues. Attached to clothing and shoes can be plant seeds that have the potential of falling off on a trail and growing into an invasive species. Also issues with trash and erosion on the sides of trail throughout the islands that all lead to a weakened infrastructure on the islands (Smith, 2012).
Another problem the islands are faced with is population growth. Just as any piece of land when population increases, development does as well. This is no different in the Galapagos Islands. Most of this development started because of the increase in tourism to the islands. Increased visitors meant expanding the airport as well as the roads and hotels to house the increasing tourist population. Expanded mobility will desolate the islands and can lead to further destruction of the unique qualities of the islands (Novy). Also, with human interaction come many issues. Attached to clothing and shoes can be plant seeds that have the potential of falling off on a trail and growing into an invasive species. Also issues with trash and erosion on the sides of trail throughout the islands that all lead to a weakened infrastructure on the islands (Smith, 2012).
Ecotourism
Ecotourism is visiting some type of natural area that has exotic or unique species with the aim of conserving said area. The funny thing about ecotourism is that a visitor travels to a place to see its beauty and wanting to conserve that area at the same time yet they are in fact contributing to the downfall through human impact (Smith, 2012). Many people come to the Galapagos each year to see the endemic and unique species that live on the islands and cease to exist anywhere else on the planet this makes the Galapagos a hot spot for tourism (Sitnik, n.d). In the 1950's the national park was created and some nature based tourism began (Epler, 2007). In the 1960's and 70's, conservation became very popular and this started the tourism boom in the Galapagos (Sitnik, n.d). Ecotours are a great way to educate tourists about the area and its environmental issues as well as giving the background of Charles Darwin and the importance of conservation. Tourists are broken down into four categories. Category one is generally the older population, richer people that can offered to arrive in larger vessel; this category make up 31% of the tourist population. Category two is a mix of younger and older people who come to the islands on smaller vessels and have less money; this category is 43% of the tourist population. Category three is typically students and backpackers who are staying for 70 days or more and make up 7% of the tourist population. This category is the one we will fall under as we travel to the Galapagos. The last category is the Ecuadorian tourists and they make up 19% of the population (Epler, 2007). Most of these tourists will be staying on floating hotels which are the ship accommodations. This is how we will be staying in the Galapagos when we visit; we will be staying on the Nemo I. With the ship accommodations, this controls the need for supervision and security because everyone will be on a boat docked out in the water and not on the islands. This along with limiting the number of guests, and balancing development and conservation help deal with some of the environmental issues seen on the islands (Sitnik).
Works Cited:
Adaptive Radiation: Darwin's Finches. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2015, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/6/l_016_02.html
Cruz, F., Donlan, J., Campbell, K., & Carrion, V. (2004). Conservation action in the Galapagos: Feral pig eradication form Santiago Island. Biological Conservation, 121, 473-478.
Dunn, C. (n.d.). Automatic Bibliography Maker. Retrieved November 29, 2015, from http://www.bibme.org/apa/film-citation/new
Epler, B. (2007). Tourism, the economy, population growth, and conservation in Galapagos. Retrieved November 21, 2015 from http://amalavidaexperience.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/0/2/39029957/paper-galapagospopgrowthtourism07.pdf.
Novy, J. W. (n.d.). Incentive measures for conservation of biodiversity and sustainability: a case study of the Galapagos Islands. Retrieved from http://amalavidaexperience.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/0/2/39029957/paper-ecuadorgalapagosconservation.pdf
Sitnik, M. (n.d.). Sustainable Ecotourism: The Galapagos Balance. 89-99. Retrieved November 29, 2015, from http://amalavidaexperience.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/0/2/39029957/paper-galapagossustainableecotourism.pdf
Smith, N. (2012). The Human Impact on the Galapagos Islands. Article Myriad.
Adaptive Radiation: Darwin's Finches. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2015, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/6/l_016_02.html
Cruz, F., Donlan, J., Campbell, K., & Carrion, V. (2004). Conservation action in the Galapagos: Feral pig eradication form Santiago Island. Biological Conservation, 121, 473-478.
Dunn, C. (n.d.). Automatic Bibliography Maker. Retrieved November 29, 2015, from http://www.bibme.org/apa/film-citation/new
Epler, B. (2007). Tourism, the economy, population growth, and conservation in Galapagos. Retrieved November 21, 2015 from http://amalavidaexperience.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/0/2/39029957/paper-galapagospopgrowthtourism07.pdf.
Novy, J. W. (n.d.). Incentive measures for conservation of biodiversity and sustainability: a case study of the Galapagos Islands. Retrieved from http://amalavidaexperience.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/0/2/39029957/paper-ecuadorgalapagosconservation.pdf
Sitnik, M. (n.d.). Sustainable Ecotourism: The Galapagos Balance. 89-99. Retrieved November 29, 2015, from http://amalavidaexperience.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/0/2/39029957/paper-galapagossustainableecotourism.pdf
Smith, N. (2012). The Human Impact on the Galapagos Islands. Article Myriad.