Diversity and Composition of Plant Species in the Forest Over Limestone of Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape, Bohol, Philippines
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Biodiversity Data Journal 8: e55790 doi: 10.3897/BDJ.8.e55790 Research Article Diversity and composition of plant species in the forest over limestone of Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape, Bohol, Philippines Wilbert A. Aureo‡,§, Tomas D. Reyes|, Francis Carlo U. Mutia§, Reizl P. Jose ‡,§, Mary Beth Sarnowski¶ ‡ Department of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Bohol Island State University, Bohol, Philippines § Central Visayas Biodiversity Assessment and Conservation Program, Research and Development Office, Bohol Island State University, Bohol, Philippines | Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines ¶ United States Peace Corps Philippines, Diosdado Macapagal Blvd, Pasay, 1300, Metro Manila, Philippines Corresponding author: Wilbert A. Aureo ([email protected]) Academic editor: Anatoliy Khapugin Received: 24 Jun 2020 | Accepted: 25 Sep 2020 | Published: 29 Dec 2020 Citation: Aureo WA, Reyes TD, Mutia FCU, Jose RP, Sarnowski MB (2020) Diversity and composition of plant species in the forest over limestone of Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape, Bohol, Philippines. Biodiversity Data Journal 8: e55790. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.8.e55790 Abstract Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape (RSPL), considered the last frontier within the Central Visayas region, is an ideal location for flora and fauna research due to its rich biodiversity. This recent study was conducted to determine the plant species composition and diversity and to select priority areas for conservation to update management strategy. A field survey was carried out in fifteen (15) 20 m x 100 m nested plots established randomly in the forest over limestone of RSPL from July to October 2019. Three hundred and sixty eight (368) species of plants were identified up to species level. This represented 327 angiosperms, one gymnosperm and 40 pteridophytes. Common plant families with more than 10 representative species were Moraceae, Meliaceae, Lauraceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Rubiaceae, Myrtaceae, Phyllanthaceae, Annonaceae, Araceae and Lauraceae. There were 93 (28%) endemic and 46 (14%) threatened species (vulnerable to critically endangered) observed. The cluster analysis and species accumulation curve suggests that plant species are not homogeneously distributed which implies that different © Aureo W et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. 2 Aureo W et al management and conservation strategies should be implemented across RSPL. These results not only indicate the importance of RSPL, but also highlights areas with higher diversity and concentration of threatened and endemic species as a special area of concern. Furthermore, areas with high biodiversity value were recommended for immediate protection, while areas with low biodiversity value were recommended for reforestation programmes using species with high importance value. Keywords Central Visayas, endemic, plant habit, species diversity, threatened species Introduction The Philippines is one of the mega diverse (Mittermeier et al. 1997) and “hot spot” countries, with more than 10,107 described plants (Barcelona et al. 2013) and supporting 1.9% of the world’s endemic plant and vertebrate species (Myers et al. 2000). Over 57% of the major faunal and floral groups in the Philippines occur nowhere else in the world (Oliver and Heaney 1996). Bohol Island, in particular, has significant remaining forested areas within the 93,000 hectares in Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape (RSPL), the Loboc Watershed Reserve (LWR) and Alejawan-Cansuhay-Anibongan River Watershed Forest Reserve. Previous studies reported many indigenous timbers, including 16 species of dipterocarps (Fernando et al. 2009), 20 premium trees, one conifer, 35 edible fruit-bearing native trees, 169 ferns and fern allies (Barcelona et al. 2006) and the rest are lesser-used species in Bohol Province (Reyes Jr et al. 2015). Despite these few studies conducted, Bohol exibits a high number of recorded plant species. The RSPL is one of the last parts in Bohol with relatively-undisturbed forest with a high diversity of plant species (Vegchel 2013). In the past, huge quantities of hardwood species, such as red lauan, Shorea negrosensis and white lauan, Shorea contorta, have been harvested. RSPL is on the southern part of the Island and all of it is mainly on karst limestone (Fernando et al. 2009). Unlike the very scientific and organised conservation programmes being poured into other forest ecosystems in the country, there is no consensus effort that would ensure effective biodiversity conservation and forest rehabilitation where a forest over limestone ecosystems and diverse fragmented forest remains with an imminent threat. Furthermore, despite being declared a protected landscape, its remaining forests have declined to only 4% from their original full-forested area due to anthropogenic and climatic pressures (Bullecer and Socorin 2013). RSPL was declared a national park in 1987 and a protected landscape in 2000 by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) (Ecosystem Research and Development Bureau, DENR 2005). Soil Water Conservation Foundation (SWCF), a non- government organisation, pioneered conservation assessment in 1996, which became the basis for the said declaration. However, SWCF has stopped biodiversity assessment and Diversity and composition of plant species in the forest over limestone ... 3 monitoring activities, with the Bohol Environment Management Office (BEMO) now taking point. Meanwhile, there is growing emphasis on the importance of conservation planning which identifies priority areas and directs limited conservation resources in a strategic manner to help address challenges to biological diversity. Approaches in conservation planning have evolved over the past few decades from focusing mainly on species to encompassing broader aspects of biodiversity. Gordon et al. 2005 identified six criteria relating to biodiversity value (e.g. the number of endemic species, conservation status, diversity, variety of taxa) to select priority areas for conservation. Thus, the present study aimed to select priority areas for conservation in RSPL using six biological parameters, namely: diversity, richness, abundance, basal area and number of threatened and endemic species. Materials and Methods Study site Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape is located in the six municipalities of Batuan, Bilar, Carmen, Dimiao, Garcia Hernandez, Sierra Bullones and Valencia (Fig. 1), with a total land area of 10,452.6 hectares. RSPL is about 8 km inland from the national road of Bilar, in the low mountain range in the south of Bohol Island. Practically all of the remaining contiguous forest in Bohol is inside this park, with only patches of intermingled plantations and dipterocarp forest elsewhere on the island. RSPL is characterised by rolling hills with remnant natural forest on steep limestone terrain, surrounded by plantation forest, deforested hills and grassland. Limestone molave forest covers 60% of the landscape, grassland 15%, forestry and agro-industrial plantations 5% and permanent agricultural areas 10%. The protected area is a popular site for birdwatchers, with many recent records of threatened and restricted-range species of the Mindanao and Eastern Visayas Endemic Bird Areas. The floral habitats within RSPL support six species of large mammals; Philippine tarsier (Carlito syrichta), long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis), Philippine flying lemur (Cynocephalus volans), Malay civet (Viverra tangalunga), common palm civet ( Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and wild pig (Sus philippinensis) (Mallari et al. 2001). Table 1 shows the sampling location and the description of the plots which were randomly selected using ArcGIS software and were established in each sampling site. Field Data Collection This study was conducted from 22 July- 7 October 2019. We followed the random nested sampling plot design by Lillo et al. 2019 for a better understanding of the stand structure of the forest from the ground to the canopy. Fifteen (15) sampling plots, each with a dimension of 20 m x 100 m were used. Each sampling plot was divided into five (5) equal segments (20 m x 20 m) to facilitate recording of canopy species with diameter at breast height (DBH) of 10 cm and above. Nested subplots of 5 m x 5 m were then laid at the centre of each segment for data recording of plants in the intermediate layer having DBH of 4 Aureo W et al less than 10 cm. Further, four small nested plots (1 m x 1 m) were used to record all plants less than 1 m tall including understorey plants, ground cover and seedlings. Figure 1. Elevation map of Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape with the locations of the sampling plots. Table 1. The general and specific locality of sampling sites in Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape (RSPL) with the plot codes (Plot) used in the hierarchical cluster analysis. Geographic coordinates (Lat: latitude, Long: longitude) in each plot are in decimal format. Plot Municipality Barangay Total land area Forest cover Topography Lat / Long (ha) (%) 1 Bilar Zamora 459.87 80 Steep to rolling 9.7192, 124.1362 2 Valencia Omjon 714.63 60 Sloping 9.7268, 124.2257 3a Carmen Montehermoso 350.69 50 Sloping 9.7460,