Galapagos home to 53 invasive species, 10 times previous estimates
March 29 (UPI) -- The Galapagos Islands hosts at least 53 invasive species, ten times as many as previously thought. The survey was conducted by a team of scientists with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Williams College and the Charles Darwin Foundation, and published this week in the journal Aquatic Invasions. Researchers began their search for non-native species in 2015 by hanging underwater settlement plates from docks on Santa Cruz and Baltra, two the archipelago's larger islands. Scientists monitored the species that attached to and grew on the plates. The team of ecologists also sampled mangrove roots, as well as searched previous studies of Galapagos invaders. The survey revealed 48 non-native species, mostly sea squirts, marine worms and moss animals, or bryozoans...
