Department of Biology

๐ŸŒฟ๐Ÿ’š ๐‘ฏ๐’‚๐’‘๐’‘๐’š ๐‘ต๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’๐’‚๐’ ๐‘ฌ๐’๐’—๐’Š๐’“๐’๐’๐’Ž๐’†๐’๐’•๐’‚๐’ ๐‘จ๐’˜๐’‚๐’“๐’†๐’๐’†๐’”๐’” ๐‘ด๐’๐’๐’•๐’‰! ๐Ÿ’š๐ŸŒฟ

In celebration of this month, the Department is delighted to share some of our amazing student works! โœจ
๐Ÿ’ซ Take a moment to read, learn, and be inspired by our studentsโ€™ creativity and passion for the environment. Hereโ€™s our second featured entry! ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿ“–


Conservation efforts in forest ecosystems must consider both ecological and taxonomic perspectives to understand the diversity patterns of understudied plant groups such as ๐˜๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ข. As a part of this, a field-based study was carried out to find out the taxonomic diversity and ecological assessment of ๐˜๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ข species in Eva Garden, Calanasan, Apayao, Philippines. The purpose of the study was to record the speciesโ€™ richness and abundance and their correlation with environmental factors such as altitude, soil pH, moisture, and light intensity. The research was conducted in two sites: Site A, which was an upland ridge about 1,039 meters above sea level, and Site B, which was a lowland region close to a river at around 727 meters above sea level. A total of eight (๐Ÿ˜Ž Freycinetia species were found, among which five (5) were new records for Apayao. It was also found out that altitude favors the diversity of the species. The results highlight the ecological position of the forests in Apayao for ๐˜๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ข species and indicate the areaโ€™s potential for biodiversity assessments and conservation planning in Northern Luzon.


The student authors: Queenie Mae L. Marquez (F), Alyka M. Fangon (F), and Meojanlee B. Agulla (M) are BS Biology alumni under the concentration ๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ด๐˜† & ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€ and conducted this undergraduate thesis study under the supervision of Dr. Liezel M. Magtoto (F).
โœ๏ธ Queenie Mae L. Marquez (F), Alyka M. Fangon (F), and Meojanlee B. Agulla (M) MT Bagangao (F)
๐Ÿ–ผJQueenie Mae L. Marquez (F), Alyka M. Fangon (F), and Meojanlee B. Agulla (M), JA Alviar (F)

We support the Sustainable Development Goals
SDG-11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities); SDG-15 (Life on Land)