Landscape Connectivity Approach in Oceanic Islands by Urban Ecological Island Network Systems with the Case Study of Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos (Ecuador)

Abstract

The oceanic islands are well known for their high biodiversity where the dynamic integration of the ecosystems inside the populated islands is such as a living laboratory of ecological and social relations of interdependence. Oceanic islands are experimenting significant pressure on their ecosystems. Habitat fragmentation produces poor spatial connectivity between protected areas and human settlements. The essence of the research approach is to develop a new framework of Oceanic Island Network System based on urban ecological networks in dealing with island connectivity issues space. This new urban ecological planning tool can help to generate an integrator balance by a physical linkage system in a socio-ecosystem island. Facilitating the territorial ordering based on the spatial and functional relations between ecological functions and urban structure through the island network system has not been analyzed yet as an essential resource for integrating the natural and human systems in oceanic islands. This paper presents a landscape theory connectivity analysis of the built space vs. the natural space of oceanic islands with the case study of Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos into the Pelican Way Watershed boundaries. In this context, spatial network elements are considered under land movement concept. The analysis is intended to determine the spatial elements interrelationships by socio-ecological networks establishing a new landscape system strategy. Additionally, it is valuable and necessary to establish a new concept of land use network for oceanic islands, such as a potential resource to generating a physical structure of environmental balance connectivity, which includes social needs and ecological potentialities for successful urban ecological conservation and development.

Integrating genetic and biophysical approaches to estimate connectivity in an isolated, insular system: case of the culturally important marine gastropod Monetaria caputdraconis

“…Due to their isolation, oceanic islands and their endemic fauna are interesting models for quantifying connectivity (Andrade and Feng, 2018). First, it is possible to obtain samples for the entire geographical range of these species; thus, the noise produced by unsampled populations (see Excoffier and Heckel, 2006) is reduced to zero, although recirculation patterns at the fine scale (sub to mesoscale) nearby the island can be influenced by the island itself (i.e., island mass effect) (Barton, 2001).…”