Seagrass assessment along the vicinity of Bangaan Island Marine Sanctuary, Tungawan, Zamboanga Sibugay

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Research Paper 11/03/2024
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Seagrass assessment along the vicinity of Bangaan Island Marine Sanctuary, Tungawan, Zamboanga Sibugay

Jay Ann T. Dagalea
J. Bio. Env. Sci.24( 3), 65-71, March 2024.
Certificate: JBES 2024 [Generate Certificate]

Abstract

Seagrass, despite the remarkable ecosystem services it offered were still in the grave threat due to lack of protection and climate change. Seagrasses located outside the vicinity of Bangaan Island Marine Sanctuary, were in subtidal zone where the water depth at low tide in most shallow is at 0.5 meters and a deepest is 2 meters. These serves as an ideal place for shell gleaning and tourist exploration due to patches of corals found in the area. This study was conducted to assess the seagrass along the vicinity of Bangaan Island Marine Sanctuary. Specifically, this was conducted to document the extent of seagrass area and to assess the diversity, distribution and abundance of seagrass species. Seagrass coverage for two sites was about 1.6 hectares (Site 1, 1 hectare and Site 2, 0.6 hectare). Using line intercept method a 1 meter x 1 meter quadrat was used in the study to determine seagrass cover percentage. There were 4 seagrasses species found in Site 1, and 5 seagrass species in Site 2. The overall average of seagrass cover in identified two sites in Bangaan Island is 11.5% (site 1 = 13%; site 2 = 10%). In terms of diversity index of seagrass species in quadrats 1 to 3, results shows that quadrat 3, located at the deepest station of the study area has the more diverse seagrass species for both site 1 and 2. However, diversity level of seagrass for quadrat 1, 2 and 3 were low for both site 1 and site 2. One way analysis of Variance (ANOVA) results show that there were no significant difference of seagrass percentage cover in increasing water depth in quadrats 1,2, and 3 for both Site 1 and Site 2. Moreover, the sparse distribution and low percent cover of seagrass along the vicinity of Bangaan Island Marine Sanctuary can be influence by natural factors (e.g., climate change, soil type and waves), or anthropogenic factors (e.g., tourism, resource utilization and waste disposal). Thus, seagrass restoration and management should be carried out in Bangaan Island.

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