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Categories of research questions students may choose to pursue:
1) Historical Biodiversity Survey: Many universities take student trips to Galápagos at all times of year. A group of students could develop a standardized protocol for surveying wildlife at anchor, on land and over open water, during a "standard" Galápagos cruise. If other groups could be convinced to have at least one person perform these standardized surveys for a few minutes each day, one could amass an impressive data set over time. Developing a survey instrument and implementing it would be the first step. Further progress, perhaps in conjunction with future external grant support, could include development of a web portal for submitting survey information. This could provide an invaluable record of seasonal fluctuation and changes in relative abundance over time that could not be obtained by any other means......whether it occurred continuously, or if it only included an intensive effort during the sesquicentennial...to be repeated at a later time.
2) Assess Human impact. Many Galápagos visitor sites are highly traveled. Data on numbers of visitors per site can be easily obtained. Students can assess the effect of humans on animals, plants or habitat by quantifying behavior, abundance, or habitat structure. Many different direct and indirect methods are available to evaluate animal activity, behavior and abundance. Some examples include comparisons of vegetation or underwater coral structure near and far from human activity, relative abundance of native or introduced species (plants, vertebrates, insects, marine) near or far from human traffic. Students may also choose to quantify species diversity, geological features (foot traffic and erosion), underwater diversity/structure, or develop novel survey methods scat, tracks, digital photo surveys, etc.
3) Measure Evolutionary Divergence. The principle of competitive exclusion states that no two species can occupy the same niche; for example, they can't eat the same things in the same way. Quantified observations of closely related organisms should reveal differences, which are in part attributable to evolution and competition for resources. Species pairs can be contrasted and may include shorebirds (lava and night herons), crabs, sea lions and harbor seals, Darwin's finches, pelagic birds, reef fish, etc. Data collected may include focal animal surveys, time-point position censuses, digital photo capture and analysis.
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