JMU BIO 357 Final

Six:

2 Fur lion/seal

2 Rice rats

2 Bats

Number of native land mammals

- Otariidae: eared seal family

- small visible ears & front slippers for swimming

- super friendly

Sea Lion facts (3)

Zalophus californianus wollebacki

- endemic subspecies of Cal. sea lion

- smaller than Cal. sea lion

- grown male can reach 250kg (bump on forehead and thicker neck)

- light brown when dry, dark brown when wet

- approx. 50,000 sea lions

Galápagos Sea Lion (6)

- each colony has beach master

- colony ill have 30+ females & their young

- males in bachelor colonies when not beach master

- females birth 1 pup, suckle for 1-3 yrs

- pups start in shallow pools, hunt after 5 months

Galapagos Sea Lion Reproduction and Development (5)

Arctocephalus galapagoensis

- endemic

- seen less often than sea lions bc they're on rugged shores

- they're actually sea lions

- play tug with marine iguana tails

- smaller than sea lion, head shorter and broader

- bigger ears and fins for climbing

- denser fur, outer long hairs and short denser fur (poached often)

- very shy

- feed at night on fish and squid

- also have beachmasters

Galapagos Fur Seal (11)

Oryzomys bauri (Santa Fe) and Nesoryzomys narboroughii

(Fernandina)

- other 5 species extinct, likely bc of introduced black rat (Rattus rattus)

- hold record for mammalian seacrossing

- Megaoryzomys curiori was in Galapagos, extinct now.

Rice Rats (2 species) (4)

Lasiurus brachyotis (S. America) and L. cinereus. (N. America)

- feed on insects, nest in trees

- dont compete for food (brach lower, cin upper)

Bats (2 species) (3)

- Dolphins bigger in population size than whales

- Cretaceans divided into baleen or teeth

- Baleen whales = blue, finback, & humpback

- sieve out plankton and shrimp

- Toothed whales = sperm, orca, pilot, & dolphins

- 2 species dolphin: Tursiops truncatus (bottle-nosed dolphin) and Delphinus delphis (common or white-bellied dolphin)

Dolphins and Whales (6)

- difficulty reaching islands

- more variety in moist uplands than arid lowlands

- approx 2,000 species (over half endemic)

- most arrived from S. America and arrived from rafting or wind

- most small and dull or cryptic colored

- poorer fliers than mainland, adapted to not be blown out to sea

Terrestrial Invertebrates (6)

Bulimulus

- 60 endemic species

- 24 species on Santa Cruz

- Darwins finches of the invertebrate world

- can aestivate during cool season (cover in mucus to keep warm)

Land Snails (5)

- approx 1600 species

- dull colored, highest activity at night

- composition is disharmonic (describes the biased representation of higher taxa on islands compared to their mainland source regions.)

Insects (3)

Coleoptera

- approx 411 beetle species

- estimated 257 colonizations necessary to account for the 335 native and endemic beetles.

Beetles (3)

Hymenoptera

- approx 20 ant species, few wasp species, 1 bee species

Ants/Bees/Wasps (2)

Lepidoptera

- approx 8 butterfly species, many moth species

- Phoebis senna marcellina more commonly observed butterfly

Butterflies/Moths (3)

Diptera

- approx 100 species

Flies (2)

Orthoptera

- 21 species of this order

- Schistocera melanocera = painted locust (most common)

Grasshoppers/Crickets (3)

Araneae

- over 50 species (hunting & web building)

- Heteropoda venatoria = common hunting spider

- Neoscona cookoni = common web spider (parachute to get around)

Spiders (4)

Class Chilopoda

- 13 species, 8 native

- Scolopendra galapagensis most common (endemic)

- preyed by hawks, night herons, and mockingbirds.

Centipedes (4)

- 1350km of shoreline

- rocky shores, sandy beaches, mangrove lagoons, & mud flats

- different life at different levels due to sun exposure ability

- higher zone = exposed most of day

- lower zone = exposed breifly

- most life in cracks under rocks

Intertidal Life (6)

Algae

- food source for marine iguanas, fish, sea turtles, crab, & other

- Green alga (Ulva lobata AKA sea lettuce) most notable in middle/lower zones

- preferred by marine iguanas

- Red alga in lower zones

- Brown alga at lower end of intertidal zones (Sargassum)

- have stalk and blades

- not eaten by marine iguanas

Seaweeds (8)

Marine iguana

- seen feeding on algae when tide is out

- birds also hang on intertidal zone and eat crabs, mollusks, and other invertebrates.

Most obvious intertidal vertebrate

Heliaster (Echinoderm)

- 2 species

- common in intertidal areas

Sea Stars (3)

- relative of sea stars

- Echinoderm

- also in IZ

- once common, in danger from overfishing

Sea Cucumbers (4)

- Echinoderm

- quite common

- Eucidaris thouarsii (pencil-spined urchin) most obvious

- Lytechinus semituberculatus also common (endemic)

Sea Urchins (4)

- Mollusks

- sometimes in intertidal tide pools & ceviche bowls

Octopuses (2)

- Crustaceans

- Megabalanus galapaganus (acorn barnacle)

- lowest intertidal and subtidal zones

- grow 5cm in height

- twelve feathery limbs used use to catch food organisms

- tough limbs and exoskeletons (relative of crabs)

Barnacles (6)

- Crustaceans

- over 100 species

- Graspus graspus (Sally lightfoot crab) stands out most

- young are black and faster than adults

- pinchers adapted for scavenging & algae

- predators: herons, moray eels, & certain fish

- Ghost crabs (Ocypode gaudichaudii) - dig burrows in sand, search sand balls for food

- Hermit Crabs (Coenobita compressus) - common in mangrove areas, nocturnal, changes shell as it grows

Crabs (8)

- warm tropical waters and cool upwelling waters create diversity

- approx 306 species of fish

Marine Life (2)

- cartilaginous fishes

- common sharks = white-tipped reef shark, black-tipped reef shark, tiger shark, hammerhead, and Galapagos shark.

- common rays = spotted eagle ray, golden ray, eagle ray, and manta ray.

- rays can reach up to 6m across and 250kg

Sharks/Rays (4)

- Commonly seen members = yellow-tailed surgeonfish, white-banded angelfish, blue-eyed damselfish.

Bony fishes (1)

- 3 species of spiny lobster known = blue, red, and slipper

Lobsters (1)

- In 1535 by Tomás de Berlanga, Bishop of Panama.

- Berlanga's official report to the King of Spain mentioned giant tortoises, seals, iguanas, tame birds, and rocks.

Galapagos Discovery (2)

- pirates, buccaneers, whalers, sealers, adventurers, castaways, and the occasional naturalist.

Visitors in first 300 yrs (7)

- Pirates in 17th century

- far enough from mainland, close enough to trade routes and coastal cities.

- source of food, tortoises were abundant.

1st intentional visitor to islands

- Englishmen, visited islands in 1680's

- in 1684, made map of archipelago

William Ambrose Cowley (2)

- Englishmen, visited islands in 1680's

- one of first to describe islands from naturalist perspective

- published "A New Voyage Round the World", the first English language account of the islands in 1697

- returned in 1709 with Woodes Rogers, who commanded the Duke and the Duchess. Found Alexander Selkirk marooned on the Juan Fernandez Islands.

William Dampier (4)

- One of last pirates to visit in 1720

- pirates left introduced species

John Clipperton (2)

- British captain of the Emilia

- one of first pacific whale hunts in 1788. returned with 140 tons of whale oil and 888 seal skins

- Darwin heard of tortoises tattooed with 1786, suggests whales before Emilia

James Sheilds (3)

- Captain of H.M.S. Rattler in 1793

- made updated chart of islands, renaming them again

- found tons of sperm whales and fur seals

- possibly established P.O. Box on Floreana

James Colnett (4)

- Irishman, first settler on islands

- was marooned, or requested to be left on the island in 1805

- Lived on Floreana, where he grew vegetables that he traded with whaling crews (usually for rum)

- Left in 1809

Patrick Watkins (4)

- Captain, visited in 1813 under American Frigate Essex

- one of the first persons to introduce goats to Santiago Island.

- described a difference in tortoise types

David Porter (3)

- whaling ship, sunk by whale after visiting islands in 1820

Essex Boat

- considered commercially not worth pursuing in 1890

Galapagos fur seal

100,000 taken between 1784-1860 by whalers

Tortoises taken

- 1st to push for colonization

- commissioned a study of financial possibilities, and found that the lichen Rocella gracilis, which produces a mauve dye, had economic potential in 1831

- organized the Sociedad Colonizadora del Archipiélago de Galápagos,

- main town in Isabela named for him

- named 1st governor of Galapagos and father of the navy

José María de Villamil (5)

2/12/1832 by Ecuador

Galapagos annexation date

- 1st president of Ecuador

- Floreana named after him

Juan José Flores (2)

- soldiers from failed coup on mainland.

- 80 joined them same year, brought donkeys, goats, pigs, and cattle, cut down highland forests to create pastures and plant crops.

- economic focus was orchil, live tortoises, and tortoise oil.

1st real colonists on Floreana (3)

- moved to El Progreso (San Cristobal) in 1858.

- produced sugar cane, coffee, and tortoise oil.

- abused laborers, assassinated in 1904

Manuel J. Cobos (3)

- declined bc of large discoveries in Baja, CA. and synthetic dyes.

orchil trade

- colonized Floreana, San Cristóbal, and Santa Cruz from 1925-1926

- fished and canned turtles, lobster, and grouper on San Cristobal

- boiler exploded in 1927, stopping production.

Norwegians (3)

- arrived in Floreana in 1929

- mysteries about Dr. Friedrich Ritter, Dore Strauch, Baroness Eloise Wagner de Bosquet, and the Wittmer family.

- stories ended in tragedy in 1934, when Baroness and one of her partners disappeared.

Germans (3)

- on Floreana and San Cristóbal in 19th century

- In 1944, Ecuadorian gov. established third colony on Isabela, with 94 criminals arriving in 1946.

- In 1958 there was a rebellion leading to the closure of the prison.

- forced to make Wall of Tears

Penal colonies (4)

- driving force of visitors at end of 19th century

Specimen collection

- stayed six months in the archipelago in 1868,

- collected birds, reptiles, insects, and mollusks that ended up in Vienna.

Simeon Habel (2)

- Harvard zoologist

- visited the islands on board the U.S.S. Hassler in 1872.

- strong critic of Darwin's ideas

Louis Agassiz (3)

- visited in 1888 and 1891, collecting on various islands for Smithsonian

The Albatross

- increased at turn of 19th century.

- US west coast universities and museums began to play an increasingly important role in research.

California Expeditions (2)

- visited on the Mary Sachs in 1901

- brought back live and dead giant tortoise specimens for Lord Rothschild’s collections in California.

- returned in 1905, leading the California Academy of Sciences expedition on board the schooner Academy. 76,000 specimens

Rollo Beck (3)

- visited twice, once on the 1923 Noma, and again in 1925 on the Arcturus Oceanographic Expedition.

- wrote "Galapagos - Worlds End" in 1924, and "The Arcturus Adventure" in 1926, both extremely influential

William Beebe (2)

- proposed a 99-year lease of the islands in return for $15 million.

- built airbase on Baltra in 1941 after Pearl Harbor to protect the Panama Canal.

- By 1943, the airbase was home to 2,474 US officers and men and 750 civilian laborers. This was the largest colonization of the islands to that date. The arrival of so many people increased the demand for water, fish, and agricultural products. Water was transported from San Cristobal to Baltra.

- Closed in 1946, used structures to build houses in Puerto Ayola and Perto Baquerizo Moreno

US influence

- one on Baltra, one on San Cristobal, both serve tourists and mark the beginning of the modern age in Galapagos.

Airports

- tuna fishing popular in late 1920's

- 70% of tuna in Cali came from Galapagos until 1937.

- Ecuador restricted tuna fishing in 1950's, Cali and Japanese boats continue to fish

Tuna fishing (3)

- arrived in 1961

- by 1995, 25 Japanese long liners in Ecuadorian waters.

- ships lay out 30 miles of line with thousands of baited hooks to catch tuna, sharks, swordfish, and marlin.

- until 1996, over 30% Japanese catch came from Galapagos. By 2002, the tuna fleets were dominated by Mexican and Ecuadorian vessels.

- lasted until Special Law of '98 which banned commercial fishing

Long Liners (5)

- In the 1930s, American Committee for International Wild Life, the Carnegie Institution, the British Museum, and the California Academy of Sciences expressed concern about the future of the islands.

- led Ecuador to adopt Executive Decree 607 in 1934 protecting key species and regulating collections

- A 1936 US Tariff Act and Customs Order confiscates all fauna taken.

- Supreme Decree 31, declared the Galapagos Islands a national reserve and established a national Scientific Commission for conservation.

Early concerns (4)

- Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfeldt

- Robert Bowman

- Julian Huxley (UNESCO)

- Peter Scott (WWF)

- Victor Van Straelen (IUCN)

- Dillon Ripley (International Council for Bird Preservation)

- Misael Acosta-Solis of the Central University of Quito

- Jean Dorst of the Paris Natural History Museum.

1950's Conservationists (8)

06/15/1959

Date Galapagos became a national park

- 06/23/1959

- Victor Van Straelen was 1st president of the Foundation

- Foundation began to work in Galapagos through the Charles Darwin Research Station.

- First activities of the Station addressed education, invasive species, and endangered species issues identified by Bowman and Eibl-Eibesfeldt.

- Station resident Miguel Castro became 1st conservation officer.

Date Charles Darwin Foundation was created (5)

- recommended in 1966

- Gov. appointed the first two park conservation

officers, Juan Black and Jose Villa in 1968.

- Ministerial Accord 690A defined borders of National Park in 1969 (left around 3% of area for colonists)

- gov. appointed the first park superintendent and constructed the first National Park buildings in 1972

National Park Service (4)

- captively bred 2 male and 10 female Espanola tortoises, hundreds now on Espanola

- third male came along from San Diego Zoo

- also bred land guanas and reintrodced them to Santa Cruz and Isabela

- In 1991, 35 iguanas placed on Baltra in 40 years

Captive Breeding

- ate tortoises, land and marine iguanas, and penguins, among other animals.

- Attempts to control these feral dogs have included shooting, poisoning, and sterilizing them.

Introduced dogs

- less common than dogs

- feed on the introduced black rat (good thing), native birds, crabs, and lava lizards, and iguanas (bad thing).

Introduced cats

- compete with native species for plants and water

- smash eggs with hooves.

Introduced burros (donkeys)

- huge problem on Santa Cruz and Santiago

- 2000-3000 in 80's, now way less

- destroyed vegetation, dug up tortoise and turtle eggs, and preyed on young birds and tortoises.

Introduced pigs

- thousands on Isabela

- feed on native vegetation, trample native vegetation, and can spread introduced plants.

Wild cattle and horses,

- possibly caused the extinction of the endemic rice rats on four islands.

- kill young tortoises and nesting black-rumped petrels.

- believed to be gone from Pinzon

Introduced Black rats

- known from 5 islands

compete with indigenous insects

Introduced red fire ants

- recently introduced

- traveled to many islands

- compete with native wasps and endemic carpenter bee

Introduced yellow paper wasps

- Philornis downsi

- worst insect pest

- accidentally introduced in 1990's

- adult flies eat fruit

- lay eggs in bird nests, eggs hatch into larvae that make their home there.

Introduced fly species

- easily the worst

- eat and trample everything

- cause soil erosion by eating plants down to ground level

- 38,000 killed on Pinta btw 1971-1975

- may have come from 3 goats, 14 years earlier

Introduced goats

- done on Rodolia cardinalis (lady bug)

1st biological control program

Icerya purchasi

Cottony cushion scale

825+

- some introduced intentionally, others unintentionally

Number of exotic plants

65%

- 40% vulnerable, 15% endangered, 10% critically endangered

percentage of endemic plants threatened

- Lantana camara (curse of India)

- Pennisetum purpureum (elephant grass)

- Rubus niveus (hill rasberry)

- Cinchona pubescens (quinine tree)

Introduced plants

- quarantine in place (airports)

- control of exotic plants (quinine) and animals (goats and pigs)

- new populations discovered (Galapagos flax)

- new attitudes (conservation classes, native plant gardens)

- Galapagos Verde 2050

Reasons for Hope

- Floristics, Pollination Biology, Systematics

- "A Taxonomic Revision of the Endemic Members of Cordia in Galapagos" (Cordia revoluta)

McMullen's Research