Damage Assessment and Recovery Monitoring of the Mangrove Forests in Calauit Island Affected by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan)

Abstract

Calauit island is one of the islands in the Calamian Group of Islands in northern Palawan. The island is truly blessed with bountiful mangrove resources which provide the Tagbanuas enormous economic and ecological importance. Not known to many, Calauit island became the exit point of typhoon Yolanda causing tremendous damage to mangrove area. The study assessed the extent of damage and the recovery potential of Calauit mangrove forests from the devastation of Typhoon Yolanda. Ten sampling quadrats were established in areas where trees were observed to be 100% defoliated. Individual trees (≥ 1cm diameter) inside each quadrat were measured and evaluated based on the assessment matrix developed in this study. Results of our assessment revealed serious damage of mangroves in Calauit island. About 60% of the mangrove forests was severely affected by Typhoon Yolanda. Eight months after the typhoon, 21% of the trees have fully-recovered crown (all branches were able to develop leaves), 70% are still defoliated and 22% were already dead. Four of the 10 quadrats showed high potential for recovery as evidenced by a lot of seedlings (≥ 25 seedlings) to serve as new regenerations. Conversely, there are four quadrats without any seedling recorded. Three monitoring plots were established for continuous monitoring of the recovery of the mangrove ecosystems. A course of actions was recommended to facilitate the recovery of mangroves in Caluit island, and to bring back the economic benefits from the forest.

A systematic review of cyclonic disaster: Damage-loss, consequences, adaptation strategies, and future scopes

“…They found the sparse vegetation class to be the most damaged forest cover type. Besides, Malabrigo et al [ 43 ] and Wang & Xu [ 44 ] found 60 % damages from cyclone Yolanda in Calauit Island, Philippines, and cyclone Meranti in Xiamen Island, China, respectively. Further, Walcker et al [ 45 ] found almost 80 % of mangrove areas damaged by cyclone Irma in France.…”

“…On the other hand, Pohlman et al [ 56 ] found that greater germination and development of plants that may impede rainforest canopy regeneration could permanently alter rainforest structure. Besides, after cyclone Yolanda, Malabrigo et al [ 43 ] discovered over 60 % of mangrove plants defoliated. As a result, the large volume of defoliated leaves carried carbon into the water, causing a fish to die three days after the cyclone, which lasted over three weeks.…”

“…This review revealed that the percent of cyclone-induced vegetation damage varies from 50 % to 95 % across the globe [ [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] , [47] ]. Earlier studies also found similar results.…”

Community-Based Mangrove Forest Management Sustainability Analysis in Tagpait, Aborlan and Bacungan, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines

“…In those areas, Avicennia sp. and Sonneratia sp., however, have higher vegetation resistance and recovery potential [17].…”

Cyclone Preparedness, Rescue Operations and Damage Assessment using UAVs

“…Damage assessment of Mangrove forests due to Typhoon Yolanda in Calauit island through manual surveying is reported in Malabrigo Jr et al (2016); Primavera et al (2016). The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for mapping and artificial intelligence (AI) to undertake various types of analysis in the areas of disaster management has made its beginning in postdisaster damage, loss, and needs assessment (PDNA) (Calantropio et al, 2021;Yuan and Liu, 2018;Wu et al, 2020).…”