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Modeling Flightless Galapagos Seabirds As Impacted By El Nino And Climate Change, Brian Seth Putman
Modeling Flightless Galapagos Seabirds As Impacted By El Nino And Climate Change, Brian Seth Putman
HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations
Noteworthy species endemic to the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador are two flightless birds, the Galapagos Penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus) and Flightless Cormorant (Phalacrocrax harrisi). Both adapted increased swimming ability at the cost of flight. This however has limited their ability to find richer feeding grounds in times of low resource availability, or to escape potential predators. Their population numbers, though small, were stable. Stress on this stability has increased since human arrival. Various invasive species from pets, farm animals and rats to even mosquito vectors of avian disease accompanied humans. . El Nino Southern Oscillation or ENSO …