An Ecotaxonomic Survey of the Land Ferns in Panlalaguan, Barangay Laiya Aplaya, San Juan, Batangas

Abstract

Ferns play a significant role in the tropical rainforest ecosystem and serve numerous economic purposes. They are also threatened by the rapid decline of the rainforests but few studies are done about them. The main objective of this study was to conduct an ecotaxonomic survey of the land ferns in Panlalaguan, Brgy. Lai ya Aplaya, San Juan, Batangas. Recorded data describing microclimatic and edaphic factors during the sampling period coincided with those expected in a typical tropical rain forest ecosystem. Employing the belt transect method, ferns were collected and identified from three study sites established at three different elevations: Station I at 176.67 masl, Station II at 142.50 masl, and Station III at 126.67 mask Twenty fern species representing 13 genera in 9 families were observed. Based on overall vegetation analysis, Diplazium esculentum (Retz.) Sw. was found to be the most numerous (with respect to number of individuals and relative density) and the most important (based on importance percentage) fern species; Macrothelyptens sp. was found to be the most dominant (it occupied the greatest percent cover) fern; and, Macrolhelypteris sp. and Pieris tripartita Sw. ferns were found to be most frequent (they occurred in all nine belt transects). Using Shannon and Simpson's biodiversity indices, Station I was found to contain the highest degree of biodiversity in the study area, owing to its high species richness and species evenness.