How many non-native marine species were found in Galápagos islands?

Grade level: 6th grades

Skills: Percentage and addition

sRelated environmental issues: Biodiversity

The Galápagos islands, which lie in the equatorial Pacific, have long been recognized for their remarkable biodiversity and their large number of endemic species.  However,  the environment of the Galápagos islands started to change because many non-native species have been brought to the islands by human activity over the last 500 years.

galapagos-islands1.jpg

A recent research identified 53 non-native marine species in the islands.

  1. The research showed that 93% of the 53 species were likely brought to the Galápagos Islands by ships. How many non-native marine species were brought by ships? Round to the nearest whole number.

  1. The Galápagos islands were first visited by Europeans in the 1500s. By the late 1960s, 2000–3000 people lived on the Islands. In a 2010, there were 25,000 residents and one-quarter million visitors annually. Together, how many residents and tourists a year are there in the Galápagos islands?

Sources: James T. Carlton, Inti Keith and Gregory M. Ruiz, Assessing marine bioinvasions in the Galápagos Islands: implications for conservation biology and marine protected areas (pp 1–20)

 

 

__________________________________________________________

 

Answer keys

  1. 49 species (53 x 0.93 = 49.29)
  2. 275,000 (25,000 + 250,000= 275,000)