Amenazas actuales y potenciales del sistema terrestre de la isla malpelo: el caso de las especies introducidas.

Alien species are responsible for biodiversity loss worldwide. Their impact on islands is even greater than elsewhere (i.e., continents), causing documented extinctions of endemic species throughout history. Malpelo is a small oceanic island, located in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Although its small size, more than seven terrestrial endemic species inhabit this island. Due to its rough and uneven surface, and also to the fact that there are no permanent freshwater sources, Malpelo remained isolated and not inhabited by humans until 1987. Preliminary comparisons between collections made by the Smithsonian Institution in 1972 and collections made by Colombian scientists in 1998 and 2006 showed some discrepancies in the total number of species, as well as some new records that include aggressive-invasive species like “tramp ants”. The aim of this research proposal is to exhaustive compare the different collections made so far, to sample again the terrestrial fauna of the island, and to establish which species (if any) have disappeared and which ones have been introduced. For each one of the introduced species a risk assessment will be formulated, along with some recommendations for the conservation of this World Heritage Site.