This is where I'll be posting anything
that's not directly linked to my current topic. Opinions, brainstorming,
or anything that might later be relevant to our three main goals will also
be posted here.
Here are the topics, in alphabetical order:
Longlining: Allison and I were at the library when we found an article about fishing boats and how they affect the local birds. Many fishing boats use longlining--the process of dragging thousands of baited hooks behind the vessel--to catch fish. This is efficient for the fishermen, but the birds have learned to follow the boats in search of an easy meal. Birds are injured by the hooks as they dive down toward the fish caught in the nets. Sometimes birds get tangled up in the hooks and are dragged along until they drown. Once the hooks sink down into the water, the birds can no longer get to them. The casualties occur when birds dive at hooks that are still floating near the surface of the water. The website we looked at (http://www.birdlife.org/action/campaigns/save_the_albatross/index.html) suggests several solutions to the problem:
--use thawed bait, which sinks into the water more quickly
--dye the bait blue. This makes the bait less attractive to birds
--set the lines at night, since albatrosses tend to hunt during the day
--make the lines heavier with additional weights, so it sinks down more quickly, out of reach of the birds
--tie tori lines behind the fishing boats. These are plastic streamers that flap in the wind which will scare the birds away
--use underwater setting tubes that keep the hooks deeper in the water
This website is not necessarily a reliable source, but these ideas are something to think about.
Native species: some endemic plants cease to expand their range after becoming established on an island. According to Thornton (1971), this is because good dispersal techniques actually hinder the plant once they begin to thrive in their new environment. Good dispersal ability means a waste of seeds, as the seeds are dispersed over a large area, and many fall into places where they cannot possibly germinate (such as the ocean). This makes me wonder if certain invasive plants might stop spreading after awhile.
Neutersol®: the Neutersol® website is obviously very biased, since they're trying to sell their product. It remains to be seen whether the ethical issues outweigh the urgent need to eradicate feral dogs. I think it would be impossible to use this for the feral dogs, since the drug only works on puppies, and newly injected dogs need to be taken care of and kept away from females for 60 days after the injection. If the drug was used on all the domestic dogs on the islands, at least it would prevent the domestic dogs from having litters, and many of the feral dogs are descendants of house pets that have become wild because there were too many puppies to a litter and the owners couldn't take care of them all.
--> Could a similar drug be made (or does one exist already) to sterilize feral pigs? How would we catch them? We'll have to do some research on traps.
Turtles and Tortoises: this was Allison's idea--since feral pigs eat so many turtle and tortoise eggs, maybe there could be a temporary park ranger patrol on the beaches, just during hatching season, to scare away the pigs. That way, hatching rates would go up, and it wouldn't cost as much as hiring full time beach patrols.
Proposals for the 3 main goals
At the team meeting on Friday (10/29) we talked about several proposed solutions. Here are our thoughts:
Biopreserve
What if all countries represented had equal say in decisions (not like the UN, where some countries have more power than others)?
Pros: more equality
Cons: it takes longer for decisions to be made, and Ecuador will be offended
We then thought about giving Ecuador veto power, but that means Ecuador doesn't have to listen to anyone else. They could do whatever they wanted and not consider other views.
We wanted to limit the number of countries involved so the decisions won't take so long. The islands are so fragile that time spent arguing over decisions will harm the ecosystem. Allison suggested putting Ecuador's neighboring South American countries on the panel, since they'd be on more friendly terms than perhaps the US and Ecuador. That's a good idea, but would those countries be interested? Would they have the resources?
Another issue that historically arises is that the country being helped feels resentful towards the richer countries giving the aid. The US, for example, has a history of being aggressive and "taking over" more than is appropriate. How can we solve this problem? Should clear rules be made? Can Ecuador tell certain countries to leave the panel under such circumstances? Will that just give Ecuador an excuse to get rid of people whose views differ from their own?
Pete mentioned that maybe the international commission should be a branch of UNESCO. It would be worthwhile to research how such organizations work.
Monitoring systems
I talked about centralizing the data so scientists from all around the world can have access to it. This will get them interested in the islands and they could contribute their own ideas and plans. It would make sense to put the data somewhere on the Internet. There should also be a place where NGO's can submit their own information and research. This way, anyone who goes to the site can gain multiple views on the same issues in the Galapagos. The problem is finding people who will process the data and perform further experiments.
There should be a main scientific base on the island where all this data goes to. This base should be located within the green village.
I also said that it's important to monitor organisms lower down on the evolutionary scale (fungi, bacteria, etc.) It's estimated (Mauchamp 1997) that the introduced fungi and soil invertebrates do more damage than the invasive animals or plants. But there is a lack of data on these species. The monitoring systems should take this into account.
Green village
It should definitely not be on Espanola--there is no running water there, and the island is too small. It's also virtually untouched by humans and should remain that way, since there are so many endemic species there (especially birds).
The village should not be built on Floreana. Floreana has a supply of fresh water, but it's small and only has a tiny hotel. It makes more sense to build the village on a larger island, where there is already a lot of human influence (such as Santa Cruz or Isabela). It would also be easier to transform an existing urban zone into the green village, instead of starting from scratch (thanks to Gavin for mentioning this in Monday's meeting).
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Here are the topics, in alphabetical order:
Longlining: Allison and I were at the library when we found an article about fishing boats and how they affect the local birds. Many fishing boats use longlining--the process of dragging thousands of baited hooks behind the vessel--to catch fish. This is efficient for the fishermen, but the birds have learned to follow the boats in search of an easy meal. Birds are injured by the hooks as they dive down toward the fish caught in the nets. Sometimes birds get tangled up in the hooks and are dragged along until they drown. Once the hooks sink down into the water, the birds can no longer get to them. The casualties occur when birds dive at hooks that are still floating near the surface of the water. The website we looked at (http://www.birdlife.org/action/campaigns/save_the_albatross/index.html) suggests several solutions to the problem:
--use thawed bait, which sinks into the water more quickly
--dye the bait blue. This makes the bait less attractive to birds
--set the lines at night, since albatrosses tend to hunt during the day
--make the lines heavier with additional weights, so it sinks down more quickly, out of reach of the birds
--tie tori lines behind the fishing boats. These are plastic streamers that flap in the wind which will scare the birds away
--use underwater setting tubes that keep the hooks deeper in the water
This website is not necessarily a reliable source, but these ideas are something to think about.
Native species: some endemic plants cease to expand their range after becoming established on an island. According to Thornton (1971), this is because good dispersal techniques actually hinder the plant once they begin to thrive in their new environment. Good dispersal ability means a waste of seeds, as the seeds are dispersed over a large area, and many fall into places where they cannot possibly germinate (such as the ocean). This makes me wonder if certain invasive plants might stop spreading after awhile.
Neutersol®: the Neutersol® website is obviously very biased, since they're trying to sell their product. It remains to be seen whether the ethical issues outweigh the urgent need to eradicate feral dogs. I think it would be impossible to use this for the feral dogs, since the drug only works on puppies, and newly injected dogs need to be taken care of and kept away from females for 60 days after the injection. If the drug was used on all the domestic dogs on the islands, at least it would prevent the domestic dogs from having litters, and many of the feral dogs are descendants of house pets that have become wild because there were too many puppies to a litter and the owners couldn't take care of them all.
--> Could a similar drug be made (or does one exist already) to sterilize feral pigs? How would we catch them? We'll have to do some research on traps.
Turtles and Tortoises: this was Allison's idea--since feral pigs eat so many turtle and tortoise eggs, maybe there could be a temporary park ranger patrol on the beaches, just during hatching season, to scare away the pigs. That way, hatching rates would go up, and it wouldn't cost as much as hiring full time beach patrols.
Proposals for the 3 main goals
At the team meeting on Friday (10/29) we talked about several proposed solutions. Here are our thoughts:
Biopreserve
What if all countries represented had equal say in decisions (not like the UN, where some countries have more power than others)?
Pros: more equality
Cons: it takes longer for decisions to be made, and Ecuador will be offended
We then thought about giving Ecuador veto power, but that means Ecuador doesn't have to listen to anyone else. They could do whatever they wanted and not consider other views.
We wanted to limit the number of countries involved so the decisions won't take so long. The islands are so fragile that time spent arguing over decisions will harm the ecosystem. Allison suggested putting Ecuador's neighboring South American countries on the panel, since they'd be on more friendly terms than perhaps the US and Ecuador. That's a good idea, but would those countries be interested? Would they have the resources?
Another issue that historically arises is that the country being helped feels resentful towards the richer countries giving the aid. The US, for example, has a history of being aggressive and "taking over" more than is appropriate. How can we solve this problem? Should clear rules be made? Can Ecuador tell certain countries to leave the panel under such circumstances? Will that just give Ecuador an excuse to get rid of people whose views differ from their own?
Pete mentioned that maybe the international commission should be a branch of UNESCO. It would be worthwhile to research how such organizations work.
Monitoring systems
I talked about centralizing the data so scientists from all around the world can have access to it. This will get them interested in the islands and they could contribute their own ideas and plans. It would make sense to put the data somewhere on the Internet. There should also be a place where NGO's can submit their own information and research. This way, anyone who goes to the site can gain multiple views on the same issues in the Galapagos. The problem is finding people who will process the data and perform further experiments.
There should be a main scientific base on the island where all this data goes to. This base should be located within the green village.
I also said that it's important to monitor organisms lower down on the evolutionary scale (fungi, bacteria, etc.) It's estimated (Mauchamp 1997) that the introduced fungi and soil invertebrates do more damage than the invasive animals or plants. But there is a lack of data on these species. The monitoring systems should take this into account.
Green village
It should definitely not be on Espanola--there is no running water there, and the island is too small. It's also virtually untouched by humans and should remain that way, since there are so many endemic species there (especially birds).
The village should not be built on Floreana. Floreana has a supply of fresh water, but it's small and only has a tiny hotel. It makes more sense to build the village on a larger island, where there is already a lot of human influence (such as Santa Cruz or Isabela). It would also be easier to transform an existing urban zone into the green village, instead of starting from scratch (thanks to Gavin for mentioning this in Monday's meeting).
Back