Community structure and regeneration capacity of mangrove forest

Abstract

Mangrove forests play a vital role in the environment. They provide a number of ecosystem services for supporting marine biodiversity, humans, and other living organisms inhabiting the area. This study aimed to determine the community structure and regeneration capacity of mangrove forests in Lebak, Sultan Kudarat, Philippines. Community structure was determined through relative density, relative frequency, relative dominance, and importance value. Using the center point circular plot method, 13 plots with 40 m diameter were established in two sampling sites: natural stand and reforested. Shannon-Weiner diversity and evenness indexes were used to determine species diversity and distribution, respectively. This study recorded a total of 14 462 individuals within the 1256 m² sampling plots, having Rhizophoraceae as the most abundant family with seven species that cover about 71% of both mangrove ecosystems. The vegetation analysis revealed that Ceriops tagal (70.35%) and Rhizophora mucronata (96.51%) had the highest importance value in the natural stand and reforested mangrove forests, respectively. Furthermore, these two species were also accounted for having the highest regeneration contribution among all species in each site. Shannon-Weiner diversity index revealed that the natural stand was more diverse compared to the reforested mangrove forest. However, the Shannon-Weiner evenness index showed that species in the reforested mangrove forest are more evenly distributed than species in the natural stand. Natural mangrove stands in Lebak have complex community structure and have higher regeneration capacity than the reforested mangrove forest. With this, the study suggested continuing the best practices employed for mangrove conservation in the area and crafting a strategic plan for sustainable mangrove resource utilization.