The Galapagos Marine Reserve A Dynamic Social-Ecological System

This book focuses on how marine systems respond to natural and anthropogenic perturbations (ENSO, overfishing, pollution, tourism, invasive species, climate-change). Authors explain in their chapters how this information can guide management and conservation actions to help orient and better manage, restore and sustain the ecosystems services and goods that are derived from the ocean, while considering the complex issues that affect the delicate nature of the Islands. This book will contribute to a new understanding of the Galapagos Islands and marine ecosystems.      

Part I: Synthesis of populations, communities and ecosystem processes in the GMR.- Coral Research in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.- Elasmobranchs of the Galapagos Marine Reserve.- The Galapagos sea lion: adaptation to spatial and temporal diversity of marine resources within the archipelago.- Reduced complexity of foraging behavior of the Galapagos sea lion inferred from a multiple approach analysis.- Ecosystem based management.- Remote Sensing of the Marine Environment: Challenges and Opportunities in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador.- Part II: Coupled socio-ecological marine systems.- Development of the Galapagos Marine Reserve.- Fishery science in Galapagos: From a resource-focused to a social-ecological system approach.- Collaborative approach to fisheries management as a way to increase the effectiveness of future regulations in the Galapagos archipelago.- The birth of sport fishing in the Galapagos Marine Reserve:  adaptation, emergence and complexities.- Shifting baselines in the Galapagos whitefish fishery: Using fisher’s anecdotes to reassess fisheries management: the case of the Galapagos grouper.- Pollution as an emerging threat for the conservation of the Galapagos Marine Reserve: Environmental Impacts and Management Perspectives.- Assessing human wildlife conflicts and benefits of Galapagos Sea lions on San Cristobal Island.- Index.