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Abstract

This study assessed the species composition and diversity of the mangrove forest and associated faunal species in Tabuk and Cabgan Islets, Palompon Leyte. The Present survey in Tabuk shows that there are five species of mangroves observed such as Sonneratia alba, Avicennia marina, Rhizophora stylosa, Rhizophora mucronata and Rhizophora apiculata. In Cabgan, the common species of mangroves were Sonneratia alba, Avicennia marina, Rhizophora stylosa and Rhizophora apiculata. In both islets, A. marina is the most important mangrove species to the mangrove ecosystem as manifested by its high importance value (115.3 in Tabuk and 147.96 in Cabgan). As a whole, Tabuk is more diverse than Cabgan, as evidenced by its higher Shannon Index value: 0.5778 in Tabuk over the 0.5198 in Cabgan. Mangrove-associated fauna found in both islets were identified down to the genus level only, but were not assessed quantitatively. Fauna in Tabuk include the golden crown flying fox, 4 genera of fishes, 16 mollusks (mostly gastropods), 5 crustaceans, 18 echinoderms, 3 tunicates, a species of sponge, 3 insects, a species of segmented worm and a species of an upside-down jellyfish. On Cabgan, 4 genera of fishes, 16 species of mollusks, 6 species of crustaceans, 16 species of echinoderms, 2 spe cie of tunicates, 4 species of sponges and 3 species of insects were observed. Comparatively, Tabuk is richer in terms of diversity than Cabgan islet. This obvious difference is due to a less disturbed environment of Tabuk having been a bird and marine sanctuary since 1995, than Cabgan, gleaning, fish pens and other human fish-related activities are observed.

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