The number of Ecuadorians living in islands increased drastically at the end of the 20th century. From 1924 thru 1997 the Galapagos experienced very rapid population growth at around 6% per year. Many of the new residents failed to app the fragility of the Galapagos ecology, sometimes violently demanding the right to exploit it.
The exotic flora and fauna had evolved without human impact until the 17th century when whalers and buccaneers began to adversely affect the natural species living in the area. Human activity has since placed increase pressures on the fragile ecosystems. This includes the increased number of permanent residents who seek to enjoy the increased standard of living on the islands as well as the increased number of tourists to the Galapagos National Park.
Even though the Galapagos still retains 95% of the biodiversity they possessed prior to the arrival of humans, scientific evaluation of ecological trends indicate that the Galapagos ecosystems are changing quickly.
Studies suggest that Galapagos has lost more species per km2 in the past 400 years than most other island groups. Increased human presence has undoubtedly played a major role in contemporary extinction of some species. This may be linked to the adverse effect of introduced species and over-exploitation. In recent years, some species have been unrecorded on islands where they had previously existed, with recordings only on islands that have not been affected by introduced species. There are several other factors of human influence that have placed pressures on the Galapagos ecosystem. These include: