Biocultural Diversity of Sarangani Province,Philippines: An Ethno-Ecological Analysis

This paper discussed effects of lowland-associated influences on upland ecology, food security and biocultural diversity in the Sarangani farming communities of the Philippines. In the uplands of Sarangani Province, the conservation of traditional rice varieties, the centrality of rice in tribal life, and the continued observance of planting rituals attest to its cultural significance and convey a common desire for cultural preservation and community solidarity. Economic and socio-political pressures had transformed tribal communities, although vestiges of traditional farming systems are still being practiced in remote sitios(villages). Changing land use patterns had also resulted in shrinking farm sizes and consequently in food insecurity in the Sarangani uplands. Extractive industries(i.e. logging, mining and charcoal making) and swidden farming were observed to cause widespread environmental degradation, while modern agriculture had undermined the capacity of indigenous peoples to survive because of their complete dependence on lands and resources. With the reality that cultural and biological diversities are inextricably linked, trans-disciplinary strategies coupling indigenous knowledge systems with scientific knowledge should, therefore, be instituted to save the Sarangani upland ecosystem, the indigenous peoples and their tribal resources.     

Macroalgae in the intertidal zone of Cantabrian Sea: richness,cover of characteristic and opportunistic species

• 1. Macroalgae are one of the biological parameters considered in the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) for establishing the ecological status of coastal water bodies. In order to test the metric used to assess this element in the Cantabrian coast, the quality of rocky bottoms (CFR) index was applied to 164 transects at 28 sites on the coast of Asturias (northern Spain) in the summers of 2007 and 2008.
• 2. At each sampling point, three variables were measured: species richness, cover of characteristic and opportunistic macroalgae, and in 2008 the percentage of the area occupied by each characteristic species was also estimated.
• 3. Application of the Shapiro–Wilk test to the variables ‘cover of characteristic macroalgae’ and ‘cover of opportunistic algae’ revealed that the data were not normally distributed (P<0.001). A Kolmogorov–Smirnov test revealed: (a) significant differences (P<0.01) between the exposed and semi‐exposed sites, for the three variables studied; (b) significant differences in cover, for six species depending on the type of exposure; and (c) significant differences (P<0.01) in opportunistic macroalgal cover in relation to the two subtypes of water bodies in the study area. However, no significant differences were observed for overall macroalgal cover or species richness.
• 4. According to the results obtained, new reference conditions and class boundaries are proposed for the implementation of the CFR index in Asturian coastal waters. The ranges proposed for the CFR index in the present study provide better discrimination for evaluating the ecological status of the studied area.
• 5. The results of SIMPER and MDS analyses reinforced the conclusion that the type of exposure and the degree of human impact are the factors that best explain the degree of similarity between the sites sampled. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.