17-year change in species composition of mixed seagrass beds around Santiago Island, Bolinao, the northwestern Philippines

Yoshiyuki Tanaka; Gay Amabelle Go; Atsushi Watanabe; Toshihiro Miyajima; Masahiro Nakaoka; Wilfredo H Uy; Kazuo Nadaoka; Shuichi Watanabe; Miguel D Fortes

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.09.024

17-year change in species composition of mixed seagrass beds around Santiago Island, Bolinao, the northwestern Philippines

Mar Pollut Bull. 2014 Nov 15;88(1-2):81-5. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.09.024. Epub 2014 Oct 7.

Authors

Yoshiyuki Tanaka¹, Gay Amabelle Go², Atsushi Watanabe³, Toshihiro Miyajima⁴, Masahiro Nakaoka⁵, Wilfredo H Uy⁶, Kazuo Nadaoka³, Shuichi Watanabe⁷, Miguel D Fortes²

Affiliations

¹ Mutsu Institute for Oceanography, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 690 Kitasekine, Mutsu, Aomori 035-0022, Japan. Electronic address: y-tanaka@jamstec.go.jp.
² Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines.
³ Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguroku, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan.
⁴ Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwanoha 5-1-5, Kashiwa 277-8564, Japan.
⁵ Akkeshi Marine Station, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Aikappu, Akkeshi, Hokkaido 088-1113, Japan.
⁶ Institute of Fisheries R&D, Mindanao State University, 9023 Naawan, Misamis Oriental, Philippines.
⁷ Mutsu Institute for Oceanography, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 690 Kitasekine, Mutsu, Aomori 035-0022, Japan.

PMID: 25304738
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.09.024

Abstract

Effects of fish culture can alter the adjacent ecosystems. This study compared seagrass species compositions in 2012 with those in 1995, when fish culture was less intensive compared to 2012 in the region. Observations were conducted at the same four sites around Santiago Island, Bolinao: (1) Silaqui Island, (2) Binaballian Loob, (3) Pislatan and (4) Santa Barbara, and by using the same methods as those of Bach et al. (1998). These sites were originally selected along a siltation gradient, ranging from Site 1, the most pristine, to Site 4, a heavily silted site. By 2012, fish culture had expanded around Sites 2, 3 and 4, where chlorophyll a (Chl a) was greater in 2012 than in 1995 by one order of magnitude. Enhalus acoroides and Cymodocea serrulata, which were recorded in 1995, were no longer present at Site 4, where both siltation and nutrient load are heavy.

Keywords: Bolinao; Fish culture; Long-term change; Seagrass; Species composition; Tropical.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Aquaculture*
Chlorophyll / analysis
Chlorophyll A
Ecosystem*
Hydrocharitaceae*
Islands
Longitudinal Studies
Philippines
Population Density

Substances

Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll A