Galapagos Islands Expedition
Funded by the RIDGES Foundation, the Galapagos Islands Expedition used cutting edge marine eDNA sampling deployed by two dive teams to assess the biodiversity and resilience of Galapagos reefs.
As a cutting-edge contemporary tool for rapid biodiversity assessments and population demography, eDNA is fast becoming invaluable to conservation. Evaluating a number of different eDNA sampling methods in conjunction with conventional transect surveys, this expedition aims to quantify the value of eDNA to conservation in a region of high endemism and potentially undescribed species. Furthermore, pairing our shallow reef data with unique mesophotic reef data collected by a rebreather dive team from the University of Chile Santiago and the University of Sao Paolo, we will untangle functional trait variation across depth gradients.
'Despite its global conservation value, the Galápagos Marine Protected Area (MPA) suffers from substantial data gaps on species presence, abundance, and ecological function, particularly for cryptic and deep-reef species. Traditional visual census methods alone are insufficient to assess true biodiversity, and the absence of rigorous baseline data impedes effective management.
Azurina eupalama, last observed in the early 1980s, and Rhizopsammia wellingtoni, recently rediscovered at an unexpected depth of 65 meters, highlight the urgent need for modern, non-invasive tools to detect elusive or possibly extinct species and inform adaptive conservation strategies. And nowhere is this more critical than in the Galápagos, where unique endemic species are threatened by ocean warming, overfishing, and data deficiency.'
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