Floristic Composition and Physiognomy of Pagbilao Mangrove, Quezon Province, Philippines

Abstract

The species composition, physiognomy and importance value of PagbilaoMangrove, a typical satoumi site in southern Luzon, Philippines was determinedfrom May 2009 to August 2010. Vegetation analysis was done within a 20x20mquadrat established in each of the landward, middleward and seaward zones.A total of 37 species were identified in all zones comprising 744 individualsbelonging to 28 genera and 18 families. Using Shannon Index of diversity, thelandward zone has the highest diversity followed by the seaward zone. The leastdiverse was the middleward zone. There was a similar trend in the proportion ofvarious tree heights and diameter in seaward, middleward and landward zones.The density of small trees was higher than those of the big ones. The IV ofthe species varied within the zones. In the order of decreasing IV A. marina> A. floridum > Sonneratia alba in seaward zone. In the middleward zone, A.officinalis > C. decandra > S. hydrophyllacea. At the landward zone, X. granatum> A. officinalis > R. mucronata > A. marina var. rumphiana. The current floristiccomposition of Pagbilao mangrove indicates that this ecosystem is still diversebased on the number and kinds of species present. With the satoumi frameworkin place, there is much hope in the conservation and management of thismangrove ecosystem.Keywords: Ecology, mangrove, floristic composition, physiognomy, species composition,physiognomy, importance value, descriptive design, Philippines

Mangrove Flora in the Coastal Municipalities of Sultan Kudarat Province, Philippines

“…Palawan with 22 species (Arquiza, 1999) and Pagbilao Bay, Quezon Province with 37 species (Almazol et. al., 2013).…”

Solved at last: The Philippine endemic Psychotria philippensis is a synonym of Scyphiphora hydrophylacea (Rubiaceae, Scyphiphoreae)

“…Resin production, inflorescence structure and habitat immediately exclude the name from Psychotria , which has terminal or solitary-pseudaxillary inflorescences and does not occur in mangroves or other coastal habitats (e.g., Sohmer and Davis 2007 ; see also Taylor 1996 , 2020 and Lachenaud 2019 ). Instead, the detailed and elaborate description in the protologue is an excellent and unambiguous match for Scyphiphora hydrophylacea , a rare and endangered mangrove species that is distributed from East India and Madagascar to the Western Pacific and Northern Australia, including the Philippines (e.g., Puff and Rohrhofer 1993 ; Alejandro and Liede 2003 ; Alejandro 2007 ; Almazol and Cervancia 2013 ). Thus, there is no reason to doubt the identifications of Schumann (1897 : 80) and Merrill (1915 , 1923b ), who did extensive work on Philippine and other Rubiaceae and were probably the only botanists to examine any of the type specimens.…”