The latest initiative in this area is the collaboration between the UNC Center for Galapagos Studies and SAS, a market leader in analytics and AI. In this partnership, artificial intelligence algorithms are employed in the research of the fauna and phytoplankton of the Galapagos Islands. Models developed on the Ecuadorian island may be used on a broader scale in future projects dedicated to the conservation of our planet’s biodiversity.
Research on the theory of evolution conducted by Charles Darwin in the 19th century lasted for over 20 years. During this time, the author personally analyzed data collected on the Galapagos Islands and verified the correctness of the conclusions drawn from them. It is no wonder, then, that the work on the publication “On the Origin of Species” took so long. However, today, thanks to the use of the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning, scientists can quickly and effectively study populations of endangered species or analyze climate changes. The use of modern technologies will have a decisive impact on the protection of our planet.
AI in symbiosis with turtles
The UNC Center for Galapagos Studies has partnered with SAS to support its researchers with innovative technological tools. By utilizing individual photos of turtles and image analysis technology (computer vision), algorithms will help identify individuals on the islands based on their distinctive features. This will result in an index that includes data such as growth rate, health status, habitat area, migration patterns, and many other behavioral patterns.
By analyzing the state using this database, scientists will be able to study the population of turtles and correlations, such as those between their health and habitat or other external factors. What sets this project apart is the invitation of volunteers and tourists to take and send photos of encountered turtles to the Institute. This way, every visitor to the islands can contribute to the development of knowledge about the symbol of the Galapagos, and scientists will gain a valuable source of data.
“The challenges of our global community are becoming increasingly complex. Therefore, we need methods that will give us access to new information and allow us to use it in actions for the protection of nature,” admits Sarah Hiser, Principal Technical Architect at SAS. “By using technologies such as analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning for a quantitative assessment of the natural world, we gain knowledge that helps protect ecosystems and counteract climate change.”
Sharks within reach of AI
The UNC Center for Galapagos Studies uses the same tools to identify and characterize the behaviors of hammerhead sharks. Hammerhead sharks live around the remote islands of the Galapagos archipelago. During the day, they usually stay near rocky areas and coral reefs close to the islands, and at night, they swim into deeper waters to hunt. However, these movement patterns are not always consistent, and the reasons for this remain unknown. Meanwhile, the Galapagos Marine Reserve, where sharks are protected, is not large enough to account for all their movements at sea and fully protect this species. Thanks to SAS software for analysis and visualization, the research team could identify and characterize the movement patterns of hammerhead sharks in coastal and marine areas. They checked if there were predictable daily behavior patterns, whether they occurred individually or in groups, and what other factors – such as lunar cycles, environmental changes, etc. – could influence them. The insights obtained will help in defining the boundaries of protected areas, as well as sustainable fishing and tourism practices.
“We wanted to know if factors affecting shark behavior could change at any time due to climate change, El Niño influence, or other phenomena. And then we wanted to see if we could adjust our actions to account for these factors,” says Prof. Alex Hearn from the Galapagos Science Center, which oversees nearly 200 tagged hammerhead sharks.
At the end of the food chain
Protecting the fauna of the Ecuadorian island is just a micro-example of using artificial intelligence and machine learning in actions aimed at preserving Earth’s biodiversity. The foundation of the marine life food chain not only in the Galapagos but also anywhere in the world is phytoplankton. Therefore, everything depends on the distribution and abundance of these microscopic organisms. Moreover, they are responsible for generating half of the oxygen on our planet. For comparison, all trees, including rainforests, produce “only” 25-30%.
Thus, the goal of the UNC Center for Galapagos Studies was to map the phytoplankton around the Islands of the Tortoises and analyze what has the greatest impact on the structure and development of this ecosystem. The biggest challenge in carrying out this task is the lack of data. Water samples have been collected for the last five years, but in the cold seasons, only once a season. As a result, effective modeling of the marine environment is difficult. However, scientists hope that collaboration with SAS will help change this.
In a sense, this project is about something more than just phytoplankton. By mapping its impact on the environment, it is possible to model how climate change will affect the entire ocean ecosystem, as phytoplankton is the foundation of the marine life food web.
“Now, thanks to data and AI, we can achieve a level of understanding that was not previously possible. This, in turn, makes it easier to take the right actions to mitigate the strongest impact of climate change on very sensitive ecosystems worldwide,” concludes Gabriel Tarrason Risa, data science specialist at SAS.
However, it is certain that these solutions are opening up entirely new possibilities for researchers today: they enable the analysis of vast datasets – which allows the consideration of a much larger number of factors influencing a given situation or species – provide the opportunity to learn about these species not on the scale of populations but in terms of individual individuals, and also enable more credible modeling of changes in ecosystems. As a result, it becomes possible to find answers to a series of questions that, due to the multitude of interacting factors, have so far remained unanswered. Understanding and deeper understanding of the dependencies that occur in ecosystems are a chance to save numerous species from extinction due to climate change and irresponsible human activities.
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