Our Natural Lab, S. Miguel Island

“The very geographical position of the Azores... poses important dispersal questions and makes these islands a natural laboratory. Midway between the European and the North American continents and born out of the attrition of three tectonic plates, the indigenous fauna and flora associations of the various islands... are expected to improve our understanding of colonization strategies. The conspicuous variability of external morphology or the concealed divergence in molecular structures from population to population (indicate that evolution) can be caught red-handed in the Azores.”

Frias Martins, A.M. (1993)

 

Oceanic archipelagos provide an excellent setting to study the evolutionary forces that drive speciation and diversification. A reliable time frame for geological events, covered on patterns of molecular and/or morphological variation. The Azores archipelago (above) consists of nine volcanic islands near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, spanning an area of 530 (latitudes 36°55'–39°43' N) by 320 km (longitudes 25°–31°17'). There are three groups of islands: a western group (Flores and Corvo), a central group (Terceira, Graciosa, Faial, Pico and São Jorge) and an eastern group (Santa Maria and São Miguel). The largest island, São Miguel, was formed by two separate islands that coexisted for about 0.550 My and that merged about 50 000 years ago.

Some Landscapes:

Fogo Lagoon

 

 

Southeast view of S. Miguel island

 

Waterfall

 

more...

 

and more...

 

Sunset on the beach

 

The extant volcanic activity in certain terrestrial locations on São Miguel, one of the nine islands comprising the Azores archipelago, provides good “field-laboratories” for investigating aspects of the capacity of soil-dwelling macroinvertebrates to inhabit natural habitats continuously receiving potentially toxic chemical inputs in a milieu conducing bioavailability (Cunha et al. 2011).

Furnas (the geothermal field)

 

Ladeira da Velha (shallow water hydrothermal vents)

 

also here is one of our high tech mesocosms in a high CO2 spot (only CO2, no temperature) for an exposure experiment from last year

 

and to finish, some of the local fauna

 

Sao Miguel a place to visit!!

Refs:

Cunha L, Campos I, Montiel R, Rodrigues A, Morgan AJ (2011). Morphometry of the epidermis of an invasive megascolecid earthworm (Amynthas gracilis, Kinberg 1867) inhabiting actively volcanic soils in the Azores archipelago. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 74: 25–32