6.6 Concluding Remarks and Recommendations
6.6.1 Biodiversity
1. A diverse and complex set of marine ecosystems exist along the coast of
mainland Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands. These include rocky shores,
sandy beaches, belts of sandy banks, estuaries, mangrove forests, deep sea
mounts, and cliffs associated with pocket beaches. All these systems provide a
high variety of subtidal and intertidal habitats for a wide range of organisms.
Nevertheless information about echinoderms is limited and dispersed. A continuous, long-term monitoring program, which integrates all habitat types and
latitudinal variation, is needed in order to understand how environmental
conditions influence echinoderm distribution and diversity. In addition, almost
nothing is known about echinoderms of bathyal and abyssal zones, especially in
the vicinity of the Galápagos Archipelago.
2. Most studies in the inner and outer Gulf of Guayaquil have focused on estuarine
production and mangrove ecology. No information on the echinoderm fauna
inhabiting this complex and large ecosystem is available, especially on species
associated with rocky, sandy and muddy bottoms, such as sand dollars, sea
biscuits, sea stars, brittle stars, and sea cucumbers. Viable population sizes
should be determined for key groups of taxa and species. They should be
monitored throughout their distribution range to quantify changes in population
size.
3. No studies have focused on the relationship between climate change and biodiversity, neither for Ecuador mainland nor for the Galápagos Islands. The
taxonomic information available is largely at the most basic descriptive level.
There is little information about the phylogeny of species and their geographical distributions.
4. Scientists should identify priority areas and taxonomic groups of interest for
completing biological inventories. They should encourage the development of a
geographic information system for detecting areas of high diversity and design
species/area curves for predicting extinction patterns to use to formulate policies for conservation and economic development (Cruz et al. 2003).
6.6.2 Ecology
1. Population dynamics of key sea urchin species should be continuously monitored, because many of the ecological changes in Galápagos might have been
exacerbated indirectly through trophic cascades, via loss of predation and
disease on E. galapagensis (Sonnenholzner et al. 2011).
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6.6.1 Biodiversity
1. A diverse and complex set of marine ecosystems exist along the coast of
mainland Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands. These include rocky shores,
sandy beaches, belts of sandy banks, estuaries, mangrove forests, deep sea
mounts, and cliffs associated with pocket beaches. All these systems provide a
high variety of subtidal and intertidal habitats for a wide range of organisms.
Nevertheless information about echinoderms is limited and dispersed. A continuous, long-term monitoring program, which integrates all habitat types and
latitudinal variation, is needed in order to understand how environmental
conditions influence echinoderm distribution and diversity. In addition, almost
nothing is known about echinoderms of bathyal and abyssal zones, especially in
the vicinity of the Galápagos Archipelago.
2. Most studies in the inner and outer Gulf of Guayaquil have focused on estuarine
production and mangrove ecology. No information on the echinoderm fauna
inhabiting this complex and large ecosystem is available, especially on species
associated with rocky, sandy and muddy bottoms, such as sand dollars, sea
biscuits, sea stars, brittle stars, and sea cucumbers. Viable population sizes
should be determined for key groups of taxa and species. They should be
monitored throughout their distribution range to quantify changes in population
size.
3. No studies have focused on the relationship between climate change and biodiversity, neither for Ecuador mainland nor for the Galápagos Islands. The
taxonomic information available is largely at the most basic descriptive level.
There is little information about the phylogeny of species and their geographical distributions.
4. Scientists should identify priority areas and taxonomic groups of interest for
completing biological inventories. They should encourage the development of a
geographic information system for detecting areas of high diversity and design
species/area curves for predicting extinction patterns to use to formulate policies for conservation and economic development (Cruz et al. 2003).
6.6.2 Ecology
1. Population dynamics of key sea urchin species should be continuously monitored, because many of the ecological changes in Galápagos might have been
exacerbated indirectly through trophic cascades, via loss of predation and
disease on E. galapagensis (Sonnenholzner et al. 2011).
6 Echinoderms of Ecuador
221