Abundance and diversity of foliage-dwelling arthropods of nipa palm (Nypa fruticans Wurmb.) in nipa areas in Southern Luzon Island, Philippines
2014
Yap, S.A. | Laude, R. | San Juan, V. | Panabang, B. | Adorada, J.R. | Nicolas, K.L. | Lapitan, V.C.
Nipa palm (Nypa fruticans Wurmb.) is considered as one of the most common, widely distributed and useful palms in the mangrove areas in Southeast Asia (Tsuji, 2011). Important products are derived from nipa. It is used for thatching house walls and roofs, a source of sugar and vinegar, and it is a useful source of biofuel. According to Hamilton and Murphy (1988), nipa can produce more ethanol than sugarcane. In addition, it provides protection as a buffer or intertidal protective zone against typhoons, storm surges and tidal waves to the coastal ecosystem and a unique habitat to aquatic flora and fauna. In spite of its economic and ecological importance, scientific studies related to Nipa palm in general are lacking. Reports on its arthropod pests as well as its pollinators are not well documented. Only Octodonta nipae (Maulik) has been reported attacking Nipa palm, a palm leaf beetle attacking leaf fronds of exotic palm species (Vassiliou, et. al, 2011). This is a pioneering study on the arthropods found in nipa in the country. The study assessed the diversity of arthropods with emphasis on the foliage-dwelling species in nipa areas. Abundance and species diversity of arthropods were assessed in different Nipa areas located in Southern Luzon (Infanta, Quezon; Calauag, Quezon; Vinzons, Camarines Norte, and Calabanga, Camarines Sur) island. Arthropods were sampled in a 2 km transect line across the nipa areas with sweep net, opportunistic sampling, and light trapping. The highest total number of arthropods were observed in Calabanga, Camarines Sur while the lowest in Calauag, Quezon. In terms of species diversity, Vinzons, Camarines Norte has the highest while Infanta, Quezon has the lowest. Among the arthropods, Family Chrysomelidae has the highest number of individuals observed.
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