TRNP Ecosystem Research and Monitoring Report 2015 Suggested Citation: Tubbataha Management Office. 2015. Ecosystem Research and Monitoring Report 2015. Tubbataha Protected Area Management Board. Puerto Princesa City, Philippines Contributors: Maria Retchie Pagliawan, Rowell Alarcon, Jeric Dejucos, Segundo Conales, Jr., Noel Bundal, Roy Magbanua, Sr., Jeffrey David, Denmark Recamara, Jerome Benedict Cabansag, Angelique Songco, Maria Theresa R. Aquino i | P a g e Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1. Introduction ..........................................................................................................1 I. Overview ...........................................................................................................1 II. Objectives .....................................................................................................3 III. Monitoring design.........................................................................................4 Chapter 2. Monitoring fish community .................................................................................7 I. Overview ...........................................................................................................7 II. Methods .........................................................................................................7 III. Results and discussions.................................................................................9 IV. Conclusions .................................................................................................18 V. Recommendations ....................................................................................19 VI. References ..................................................................................................19 Chapter 3. Monitoring benthic community .......................................................................22 I. Overview .........................................................................................................22 II. Methods .......................................................................................................23 III. Results and discussions...............................................................................24 IV. Conclusions .................................................................................................34 V. Recommendations ....................................................................................34 VI. References ..................................................................................................35 Chapter 4. Monitoring seabird community .......................................................................36 I. Overview .........................................................................................................36 II. Methods .......................................................................................................36 III. Results and discussions...............................................................................38 IV. Recommendations ....................................................................................53 V. References ..................................................................................................56 Chapter 5. Other research ...................................................................................................58 ii | P a g e List of Annexes Annex 1. In-flight to roost statistics of boobies and noddies on Bird Islet, Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, April to May 2005 – 2015................................. 62 Annex 2. In-flight to roost statistics of boobies and noddies on South Islet, Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park 2014 – 2015 ........................................................ 66 Annex 3. Breeding species Inventory: Population calculation method per breeding species.................................................................................................... 67 Annex 4. Seabirds Distance Count: Objectives and method .......................................... 70 Annex 5. Results of Park Rangers Counts August 2014 to February 2015 at Bird and South Islet ................................................................................................. 71 Annex 6. Systematic list of avifaunal records, North and South Islet and Jessie Beazley Reef, TRNP, 8-11 May, 2015. ........................................................ 74 Annex 7. Comparison of the landscape and habitats seen from the permanent photo documentation sites on North Islet and South Islet, May 2015 and May 2004. ............................................................................. 79 List of Tables Table 1. Location of the TRNP monitoring stations and grounding sites. .......................... 4 Table 2. Summary of sampling design used in conducting Fish Visual Census in Tubbataha from 2013 - 2015. ............................................................................ 8 Table 3. Result of a two-factor analysis of variance (without replication) on fish biomass values in all sites from 2013 to 2015. ........................................... 10 Table 4. Overall mean percentage cover at 10 meters in TRNP. .................................... 24 Table 5. Mean percentage cover per site at 10 meter depth in Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. ............................................................................................... 24 Table 6. Mean percentage cover of benthic community in Jessie Beazley along with standard deviation. .......................................................................... 27 Table 7. Overall mean percentage cover at 5m depth TRNP. ........................................ 28 Table 8. Mean percentage cover per site at 5m depth in Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. .......................................................................................................... 28 iii | P a g e Table 9. Mean percentage cover of the benthic community in Jessie Beazley Reef at 5 meters. .................................................................................... 30 Table 10. Approximate changes in the land area of Bird Islet, Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, from 1911-2015. .................................................................. 38 Table 11. Condition of vegetation on Bird Islet, May 2005 (baseline year) and 2014 to 2015. ................................................................................................. 42 Table 12. Condition of vegetation on South Islet, May 2011 to 2012 and 2014 to 2015. ................................................................................................................... 43 Table 13. Selected results of TMO Park Rangers distance monitoring and inventories from June 2014 to April 2015. .......................................................... 44 Table 14. Total count numbers of adult resident seabirds present on Bird Islet and South Islet of Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, 8 -11 May, 2015............... 46 Table 15. TRNP seabird breeding data April to June 2004-2015 (Bird and South Islet combined).. ........................................................................................ 47 Table 16. Population results and population trend of breeding seabirds in TRNP, April to June 1981 – 2015. Baseline years are underlined.................... 52 List of Figures Figure 1. Location map of Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (NAMRIA). ............................. 1 Figure 2. Location of permanent monitoring sites. .............................................................. 2 Figure 3. Hierarchical sampling design................................................................................. 3 Figure 4. Yearly mean fish biomass of TRNP in metric tons per square kilometer. ............................................................................................................. 10 Figure 5. Mean fish biomass and density in each monitoring site from 2013- 2015. ....................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 6. Breakdown of demersal and pelagic fish biomass in Tubbataha. ................. 13 Figure 7. Yearly mean fish biomass per depth in the Tubbataha Reefs. Red dotted line represents trend in the deep zone while blue dotted line indicates trend in the shallow zone. ........................................................... 13 Figure 8. Yearly mean fish density per depth in the Tubbataha Reefs. ....................... 14 iv | P a g e Figure 9. Yearly mean biomass of fish groups in the Tubbataha Reefs. ........................ 15 Figure 10. Yearly mean density of fish groups in the Tubbataha Reefs. ......................... 15 Figure 11. Total fish biomass in the USS Guardian and Min Ping Yu grounding sites in 2014 and 2015. ........................................................................................ 17 Figure 12. Fish density at the USS Guardian and Min Ping Yu grounding sites in 2014 and 2015. ................................................................................................ 18 Figure 13. Percentage cover of the three benthic categories in Tubbataha from 1997 to 2015. ................................................................................................ 25 Figure 14. Hard coral cover at Site 2, 4, 6 & 7 at 10 meters from 1997-2015. Major disturbances such as El Niño and storms are highlighted with