Agriculture, Wildlife, and Conservation in the Galapagos Islands

Agriculture has profoundly transformed the humid highlands of inhabited islands in this UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, the agriculture and conservation sectors have historically had an antagonistic relationship. Therefore, this dissertation uses a mixed-methods approach to explore common interest points related to farmer livelihoods, invasive species control, and endemic species protection. These relationships are framed as part of a coupled human-natural system, where human and non-human agency constantly shape agroecosystems of the Galapagos (Chapter 2). For the first time, the land cover of Galapagos agroecosystems was mapped in high-resolution using categories relevant to both agriculture and conservation sectors (Chapter 3). Invasive plants cover the most considerable fraction of the agricultural areas (28.5%), followed by pastures (22.3%), native vegetation (18.6%), food crops (18.3), and mixed forest and pioneer plants (11.6%). Interviews and socioeconomic data were used to categorize land use and farming practices in the Galapagos along an agroecological spectrum (Chapter 4). There is a wide range of farming practices, but 44.1% of farms were categorized as conventional, 52% of farms were ranked as transition, and 28% were categorized as agroecological. The newly generated land cover and land use datasets were used to create habitat suitability maps for the emblematic giant tortoises (Chelonoidis spp., Chapter 5). The predicted suitable habitat for tortoises in Santa Cruz extends over 6839.9 ha. In the case of C. porteri, 29% of their predicted suitable habitat is within agricultural areas. In San Cristobal, C. chathamensis has a predicted suitable habitat of about 2581 ha, mainly in the northern regions. Still, interviews with key stakeholders of the food system suggest tortoises are migrating south and entering the agricultural areas. Farmers have complex and context-dependent relationships with invasive plants like Psidium guajava as well as with giant tortoises. Farmer experiences that reconcile agricultural activities with tortoise conservation as well as with P. guajava management were documented. I hope that these studies increase the rural sector's representation for regional policymaking and encourage collaboration between agriculture and conservation sectors.Doctor of Philosoph