Floral biodiversity assessment of the Riparian ecosystem of Maragondon river watershed Cavite, Philippines / by John Arwin Keith D. Asia, Hazel May C. Cambel and Patricia Mae P. Ibañez.

Thesis (Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science) Cavite State University.

Includes bibliographical references.

College of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Natural Resources (CAFENR), Department of Forestry and Environmental Science

ASIA, JOHN ARWIN KEITH D., CAMBEL, HAZEL MAY C., and IBANEZ, PATRICIA
MAE P. Floral Biodiversity Assessment of the Riparian Ecosystem of Maragondon River Watershed, Cavite, Philippines. Undergraduate Thesis. Bachelor of Science in
Environmental Science. Cavite State University, Indang, Cavite. June 2019. Adviser For.
Junser P. Magpantay.
The study was conducted in the riparian ecosystem of Maragondon River Watershed
from August 2018 to March 2019. Specifically, it aimed to: (1) describe the vegetation cover in
the Maragondon River Watershed using vegetation index; (2) identify the floral species
present in the riparian ecosystem and their category according to DAO 2017-11; (3) assess
the floral species richness, abundance, evenness and dominance using biodiversity indices;
and (4) enumerate the indigenous floral species present in Maragondon River Watershed.
A 2017 LandSat@ imagery from the United States Geological Survey was used
and processed in ArcMap 10.5 to determine the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
(NDVI) of Maragondon River Watershed (MRW). The NDVI map revealed that MRW has a
high vegetation cover. The upland part of MRW has greater vegetation than central hilly and
lowland. Upland part is composed of portions of municipality of Alfonso, Indang, Mendez, and
Tagaytay City.
There was a total of 154 floral species categorized into trees, intermediate, and
understorey. Indigenous species have greater number than exotic species with 51.11 percent
and 48.89 percent respectively.
The Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index was computed. It revealed that MRW has a low
biodiversity. The average Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index of MRW ranged from
2.27 (low) to 2.34 (low) in floral diversity. On the other hand, the computed average Shannon's
Equitability Index ranged from 0.87 (very high) to 1.36 (very high). This shows that the plants
are well distributed in MRW
With these results, there is a need to protect the floral biodiversity of MRW through
conservation of indigenous species which are threatened by exotic species Moreover,
education regarding the significance of indigenous species will help in its flourishment. Lastly,
government interventions like prohibition of planting of exotic species and/or initiation of
indigenous tree planting programs are needed to alleviate the problem of biodiversity loss. By
this, the environment and the people will be both benefited.

Submitted to the University Library 07/16/2019 T-8339