Population Abundance of the Endangered Galapagos Sea Lion Zalophus wollebaeki in the Southeastern Galapagos Archipelago.

ABSTRACT: There is great concern regarding the population status of the endangered Galapagos sea lion (GSL) because it has drastically decreased over the last 30 years. We determined the population size and growth trend of the GSL in the Galapagos southeastern region (SER) at three population levels based on the available census data: 1) SER (2011-2015), including 13 rookeries on the four islands San Cristóbal (SC), Española, Floreana, and Santa Fe, comprising 58% of the archipelago's population; 2) SC (2011-2015), including five rookeries, comprising 52% of the SER population; and 3) El Malecón (2005-2015), the largest rookery on SC and in the SER (43% of the population on SC and 22% in the SER). We also analyzed the influence of environmental variability on pup abundance in these rookeries. The cu

SUBMITTER: Riofrio-Lazo M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5215494 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature