Date of Publication

7-2025

Document Type

Bachelor's Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Biology

Subject Categories

Biology

College

College of Science

Department/Unit

Biology

Thesis Advisor

Emelina H. Mandia

Defense Panel Chair

Chona Camille V. Abeledo

Defense Panel Member

Antonio Samuel S. Mamauag
Laurence E. Robles

Abstract (English)

Seagrass meadows are among the most productive habitats in shallow coastal waters, providing nursery areas and habitat for juvenile fish and invertebrates, stabilizing marine sediment and water quality, and providing livelihood activities for coastal communities. This study characterizes the seagrass meadows of Talim Bay, Lian, Batangas, part of the globally important Verde Island Passage, which houses shallow marine habitats such as coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and mangrove forests. Modified transect-quadrat sampling was done in three selected sites within Talim Bay to capture the seagrass meadow community structure, species composition, epiphyte cover and physico-chemical properties across the habagat and amihan seasons. Analysis of the species composition shows that the seagrass meadows support a total of 53 species with 7 seagrass species, 17 green algae species, 14 brown algae species, and 15 red algae species, exhibiting high species diversity during both habagat (H’ =2.67) and amihan (H’ = 2.74), and similar evenness values (J= 0.81) during both seasons as revealed by the Shannon-Weiner Diversity and Pielou’s Evenness indices, respectively. The seagrass meadows are dominated by the seagrasses Thalassia hemprichii, Cymodocea rotundata, and Enhalus acoroides, and the macroalgae Gracilaria arcuata and Amphiroa fragilissima across the seasons. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis shows no seasonal clusters of the species but reveals clear seagrass zonal clusters, with E. acoroides and T. hemprichii spanning all zones, H. pinifolia and C rotundata in the near zone, and S. isoetifolium in the middle to far zone of the meadows seaward bound. While salinity, conductivity, and total dissolved solids (TDS) are consistently higher during amihan, and temperature during habagat, both Pearson’s correlation and Principal Component Analyses results show low correlation between the seasonal physico-chemical properties of water and the seagrass meadow general community structures, with the seagrass cover and epiphyte cover associating more with habagat than amihan and the macroalgae richness associating more with distance from shore and sediment coarseness. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) not only reveals the local people’s strong dependence on the seagrass meadows as a general source of livelihood but also their deep cultural connection and understanding of the meadows’ ecological dynamics as seasons change, human populations increase and climate change worsens.

Abstract Format

html

Abstract (Filipino)

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Abstract Format

html

Language

English

Format

Electronic

Keywords

Seagrasses--Philippines--Talim Bay; Species diversity

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Embargo Period

8-15-2026

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Available for download on Saturday, August 15, 2026

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