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I. Area Identification
[Figure 1. Overview map of Danjugan Island and Agutayan Island; areas in red signify a MPA;
areas in yellow signify a non-MPA; areas in green signify a control site]
Three MPAs are identified within the general area of Danjugan Island. The immediate
non-MPA around the noted areas will be sampled as well in order to compare differences in
macroalgal biomass and diversity. Agutayan Island, a small island approximately one-kilometer
southeast of Danjugan Island will serve as a fourth sampling site and as a control.
Areas enclosed in red lines are MPAs and the three identified are numerically labeled. 1
indicates the MPA at the Western side of Danjugan Island, 2 indicates the MPA at the Eastern
side of the island, and 3 indicates the MPA at the Southern area of the island. Sub-labels indicate
adjacent non-MPA (i.e. 1.a is an adjacent non-MPA of area 1). Two non-MPA around area 3 are
identified (tagged as 3.a and 3.b respectively, with the former in the Western side of the island
and the latter in the Eastern side) but only one of the two areas will be sampled which will be
chosen at random.
II. Materials
The transect line method will be used in conducting the research. A transect line is laid
out across the desired area beginning from the shoreline towards a determined endpoint. The
total length of the line will range from approximately 100m up to 200m and a width of
approximately 3m at each side. Square quadrats are placed at predetermined points. The interval
between the points will vary between sampling areas due to differences in the total length of the
line therefore the distance between two intervals will be the 10% approximate of the total span of
the transect line (e.g. a 100m transect line would yield points at every 10m). A single 50x50cm
All macroalgal species enclosed within the quadrat will be collected. Percent cover of
unique species will be estimated from surface observation. Collection will resume until all points
along the line have been sampled. All samples from a single quadrat will be placed in a net bag.
Once collection has been completed in a specified area, species segregation will be done. Species
that have been separated and identified will have their initial fresh/wet weight quantified. Four
voucher specimens representing each unique species will be preserved in a formalin solution
After all areas have been sampled, the retrieved specimens will be taken back to the
University of St. La Salle. Collected species will be oven dried and their dry weights retrieved.
herbarium.
dissolved oxygen—will also be obtained and these shall be correlated with the physical data
Biomass of each individual species taken from a quadrat will be derived from the product
of the estimated percent cover of each species with the difference of their dry and fresh weights.
For example, species 1 has an estimated percent cover of 30% and initial fresh weight is
quantified to be at 0.60 g. After oven drying, the sample is weighed again and is now at 0.30 g.
All instances of a unique species occurring within an area are plotted against the quadrat
number and the total biomass is computed. Results obtained from MPAs shall be contrasted
observed and sampled species. Relative species abundance is calculated by dividing the number
of individuals of a certain species over the total population of all species. In the case of
macroalgal species abundance, the number of instances (number of quadrats the species is
observed) instead of number of individuals will be used. Therefore computation of the measure
will be the total number of instances a species is encountered in area divided by the total number
For example, species 1 appears in six quadrats (six instances) and an area has a total
number of 30 instances for all species identified. Therefore, the relative abundance of species 1
is 0.2
The general diversity of an area will be derived using the Shannon-Weiner Index. The
index will quantify how evenly distributed the macroalgal species are in an area and takes into
account the number of identified species, species abundance, and the total number of instances
each species occurs. The index is computed by the negative summation of the product of species
H’ = -∑ (pilnpi)
Pi represents the relative species abundance of a species. An example of the use of the
index is as follows:
[Figure 2. Theoretical tally of macroalgal species abundance in area 1 & 2]
AREA 1 AREA 2
SPECIES # OF pi pilnpi # OF pi pilnpi
INSTANCES INSTANCES
Halimeda sp. 3 0.25 -0.35 5 0.42 -0.36
Sargassum sp. 2 0.17 -0.30 0 - -
Caulpera sp. 7 0.58 -0.32 7 0.58 -0.32
TOTAL 12 -0.97 12 -0.68
The negative summation of pilnpi will result in an index rating of 0.97 for area 1 and 0.68
for area 2 if these results were obtained. The closer the index is to zero, the lower is its general
species evenness and richness. As in the theoretical case of areas 1 & 2, area 2 has a lower index
as that of area 1 thus it can be assumed that area 2 has lower species richness and evenness (it
can be noted though in the example that although both areas have the same number of
individuals, area 2 only has two unique species while area 1 has three which can be a factor in