Species Diversity and Community Structure of Beach Forests in San Fernando, San Jose, Antique, Philippines

Abstract

Beach forests play a vital role in disaster mitigation and climate change mitigation. These forests protect coastal communities against natural calamities. It has been observed that areas with less or absence of beach forests and mangrove systems were highly devastated compared to those with. However, these ecosystems were neglected due to lesser studies and baseline information about the species diversity and community structure and its role in the overall ecology of the area. The study assessed the species diversity and community structure of beach forests in San Fernando, San Jose, Antique, Philippines. The study used the transect line plots method in an area that was purposively selected. The general floristic composition was based on an ocular survey of the selected site. Characterization of community structure was done using accepted parameters. Results showed a total of sixteen (16) beach forest species that belong to twelve (12) families. Tabernaemontana pandacaqui and Jatropha gossypifolia were found to be the most frequently occurring species. The plant diversity of the area is low (mean H’ = 0.968) which is attributed to anthropogenic disturbances. The species with the highest Importance Value was Capparis micracantha (IV =61.02). Overall, beach forest in San Fernando, San Jose has a high species evenness (J’ = 0.929) which proves that conservation and preservation efforts must be increased. It is recommended that local government units must develop plans to promote awareness and strengthen values for conservation and protection of the beach forests among its people. Keywords: Beach Forest, Forest Conservation, Biodiversity, Importance Value.

Unveiling coastal diversity: An inventory and conservation report of beach forest flora of Surigao del Sur, Philippines

“…The Evenness index trends show a limited number of species in all sites with La Paz and Balibadon having a homogeneous distribution among sites. The cause maybe attributed with rapid land conversion, human settlements and the recent conversion of beaches to resorts/tourist spots, similarly observed by Millamena et al (2022). These urban anthropogenic pressures impact biodiversity and ecosystem services (McDonald et al 2013;Semeraro et al 2022).…”

“…Unlike other ecosystem types, the beach forests of the Philippines have not been extensively researched (Primavera and Sadaba 2012). Among the studies that have been carried out in beach forests were in Dinagat Island, Guiuan, Eastern Samar, San Jose, Antique, and Kiamba, Sarangani Province (Lillo et al 2019;Sabulao et al 2020;Cañeda et al 2022;Millamena et al 2022); hence there is still a need for additional floristic inventories that is necessary to address the limited availability of data on beach forests and prevent the extinction of native species due to environmental threats and infrastructural developments. Consequently, minimal information on the beach flora species also resulted in data scarcity in the country.…”