03. Science and Technology (Natural Sciences) Committee
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://repository.unesco.gov.ph/handle/123456789/3
In creating a culture of peace and addressing sustainable development challenges, UNESCO aims to cultivate the generation and application of scientific knowledge among its Member States. At UNACOM, we facilitate access to UNESCO’s international programmes in the sciences, such as the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, and International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme (IGGP), among others.
Through this sector, the Commission aims to contribute to the following SDGs: 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities, 13 - Climate Action, 14 - Life Below Water, and 15 - Life On Land. With the overarching vision of the 2023-2028 Philippine Development Plan (PDP), UNACOM targets grassroots-inspired cultural heritage and biodiversity protection and conservation, as well as multi-stakeholder partnerships for SDGs promotion.
Through this sector, the Commission aims to contribute to the following SDGs: 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities, 13 - Climate Action, 14 - Life Below Water, and 15 - Life On Land. With the overarching vision of the 2023-2028 Philippine Development Plan (PDP), UNACOM targets grassroots-inspired cultural heritage and biodiversity protection and conservation, as well as multi-stakeholder partnerships for SDGs promotion.
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- Enhancing coral recruitment through assisted mass settlement of cultured coral larvaedela Cruz, Dexter W.; Harrison, Peter L. (Public Library of Science, 2020-11-24)The escalating rate at which coral communities are declining globally requires urgent intervention and new approaches to reef management to reduce and halt further coral loss. For reef systems with limited natural larval supply, the introduction of large numbers of competent coral larvae directly to natural reef substrata provides a potentially useful approach to replenish adult coral populations. While few experiments have tested this approach, only one experiment has demonstrated its long-term success to date. Given the differences in life-history traits among corals, and different sensitivities of larvae to abiotic and biotic factors, coupled with the dynamic nature of post-settlement survivorship and recruitment processes, trials of the larval enhancement technique with larvae of different coral species are needed to test the broader applicability and viability of this approach. Accordingly, in this paper we examine the applicability of the larval enhancement technique to restore a population of Acropora loripes in the Bolinao-Anda Reef Complex, Pangasinan, northwestern Philippines. Larvae were cultured ex situ following spawning of collected A. loripes colonies in June 2014. Competent larvae were transported to degraded reef areas and approximately 300,000 larvae were introduced in each of three 6 × 4 m plots directly on the reef. Fine mesh enclosures retained the larvae inside each treatment plot for five days. Three adjacent 6 × 4 m plots that served as controls were also covered with mesh enclosures, but no larvae were introduced. Each plot contained ten 10 × 10 cm conditioned settlement tiles cut from dead tabulate Acropora that were used to quantify initial larval settlement. After allowing larval settlement for five days, mean settlement on tiles from the larval enhancement plots that were monitored under stereomicroscopes was significantly higher (27.8 ± 6.7 spat per tile) than in control plots, in which not a single recruit was recorded. Post-settlement survivorship and growth of spat and coral recruits on tiles and reef substrata inside the experimental plots were monitored periodically for 35 months. After 35 months, the mean size of each of the remaining 47 A. loripes coral colonies surviving on the reef substrata was 438.1 ± 5.4 cm3, with a mean diameter of 7.9 ± 0.6 cm. The average production cost for each of the surviving A. loripes colonies at 35 months was USD 35.20. These colonies are expected to spawn and contribute to the natural larval pool when they become reproductively mature, thereby enhancing natural coral recovery in the area. This study demonstrates that mass coral larval enhancement can be successfully used for restoring populations of coral species with different life-history traits, and the techniques can rapidly increase larval recruitment rates on degraded reef areas, hence catalysing the regeneration of declining coral populations.We thank the staff and research assistants at the Bolinao Marine Laboratory of the Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines for logistical support with this research especially E. Gomez, C. Ligson, R. Gomez and M. Ponce. We thank C. Barlow and A. Fleming from ACIAR for ongoing support. This publication is dedicated to our colleague at BML, Dr Ronald D. Villanueva who became terminally ill during 2015. This is MSI Contribution No. 476, and contribution 2 from the Southern Cross University ACIAR Coral Larval Restoration reef restoration trials.
- Fisheries Administrative Order No. 144-1: Series of 1992. Amending Section 8 of FAO No. 144 s. 1983(Department of Agriculture, 1992-05-26)
- Fisheries Administrative Order No. 144: Series of 1983. Rules and regulations on commercial fishing.(Department of Agriculture, 1983-12-08)
- Fisheries Administrative Order No. 187-1: Series of 2010. Amending Section 1[g] of FAO 187.(Department of Agriculture, 2010-01-12)
- Coral responses in single- and mixed-species plots to nutrient disturbanceDizon, R. M.; Yap, H. T. (Inter-Research Science Center, 2005)Space is a limiting resource in coral reef communities causing actively growing coral colonies to come in proximity and interact with each other. Although most contact interactions among corals have been studied extensively, very few non-contact and non-aggressive interactions have been documented so far. We present results from a 3 yr field study of coral communities showing that, under unperturbed conditions, the reef-building coral Porites cylindrica exhibits significantly higher growth when transplanted together with 2 other species (P. rus and Pavona frondifera) than when grown in monoculture. However, the introduction of a chronic disturbance (nutrient enrichment) adversely affected its growth rates and survival, thus overturning the earlier trend. Furthermore, the 3 species used in the experiment exhibited different responses to the perturbation (negative, no effect, positive). Our results show that the presence of other species can enhance performance at the colony level, while differential species responses potentially provide buffering effects at the community level that may contribute to the maintenance of community structure and function during periods of disturbance.
- Green Noctiluca scintillans: A dinoflagellate with its own greenhouseHansen, P. J.; Miranda, L.; Azanza, Rhodora (Inter-Research Science Center, 2004)The effect of irradiance on photosynthesis of the green form of the dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans was studied. Photosynthesis, measured in cells collected from the field and without the addition of prey, increased with irradiance to ca. 200 ng C cell-1 d-1 at an irradiance of ~250 to 300 µmol photons m-2 s-1. N. scintillans cells were observed to prey and grow actively on a number of different algae, including the dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense var. compressum which produces paralytic shellfish toxin. However, in all cases, N. scintillans lost its endosymbionts when grown in the laboratory for more than 3 wk and became colourless, irrespective of food item, concentration and irradiance. A factor necessary for endosymbiont growth was apparently missing, which was not provided to them by N. scintillans when fed the selected prey types. Thus, further experiments were carried out with freshly collected organisms. The growth rate of N. scintillans when grown without prey was 0.058 and 0.14 d-1 at irradiances of 45 and 150 µmol photons m-2 s-1 at a light:dark cycle of 12:12 h and a temperature of 26°C. When supplied with P. bahamense as food, N. scintillans increased its growth rate to 0.09 and 0.24 d-1, at irradiances of 45 and 150 µmol photons m-2 s-1 and prey concentrations of 1610and 2740 µg C l-1, respectively. Ingestion rates were only measured at 150 µmol photons m-2 s-1. At this irradiance, the ingestion rate increased linearly with prey concentration and showed no signs of satiation at a prey concentration of ~2700 µg C l-1. A comparison of the contribution of photosynthesis and phagotrophy to the carbon metabolism revealed that phagotrophy only contributed significantly (30%) to the direct growth of the green N. scintillans at an irradiance of 150 µmol photons m-2 s-1, when the prey concentration was very high. Clearance decreased with prey concentration, from ~0.06 ml N. scintillans -1 d-1 at 25 µg C l-1 to ~0.03ml N. scintillans -1 d-1 at a prey concentration of 2740 µg C l-1. This indicates that N. scintillans, when it occurs at bloom concentrations in nature (1 to 10 cells ml-1), may have a significant impact on the bloom dynamics of P. bahamense var. compressum.
- Understanding coral reefs as complex systems: Degradation and prospects for recoveryDizon, Raymond T.; Yap, Helen T. (Editorial CSIC, 2006-06-30)The present century is witness to unprecedented levels of coral reef degradation worldwide. Current understanding based on traditional ideas is unlikely to capture adequately the dynamics of phenomena accompanying this trend. In this regard, the ideas of complexity are reviewed. Some applications to coral reefs as complex systems have already been discussed in the literature although further progress is warranted as the search for new and more effective management tools continues, and the direction towards more holistic, integrative and large scale approaches gains wider acceptance. We distinguish between the concepts of robustness and resilience in the face of disturbance, highlight the various mechanisms that foster these stability properties and provide some coral reef examples. We identify some of the driving forces behind succession that are critical for community assembly and possible reef recovery. Finally, we consider how self-organization arises out of apparently random and chaotic processes and interactions to exhibit certain regularities and patterns especially when moving up on the scale of space and/or time.
- Composition and spatial distribution of infauna in a river estuary affected by fishpond effluentsGalope-Bacaltos, Della Grace; San Diego-McGlone, Maria Lourdes (Elsevier BV, 2002-08)Infauna, either macrofauna or meiofauna, are benthos and phytal fauna which pass through a 1.0-0.5 mm screen (Hulings and Gray, 1971). These organisms include a wide array of taxonomic groups, namely: nematodes, oligochaetes, polychaetes, copepods, and amphipods. The importance of infauna in benthic ecosystems has been investigated because they play vital roles in the ecology of the marine environment. Their diverse morphology and ability to adapt to various habitats make them important as food for large benthic organisms (McIntyre, 1964; Christensen, 1967; Tietjen, 1969; Thorson, 1971; Bretschko, 1973) and in the recirculation of nutrients (Thorson, 1966; McIntyre, 1973; Gerlach and Schrage, 1971; Mercer and Cairns, 1973).
- Growth and survival of coral transplants with and without electrochemical deposition of CaCO3Sabater, Marlowe G.; Yap, Helen T. (Elsevier BV, 2002-06)This study aims to investigate experimentally the effect of electrochemical deposition of CaCO3 on linear and girth growth, survival and skeletal structure of Porites cylindrica Dana. Transplanted coral nubbins were subjected to up to 18 V and 4.16 A of direct current underwater to induce the precipitation of dissolved minerals. Naturally growing colonies showed a significant increase in percentage longitudinal growth over the treated and untreated corals. Survival followed a similar trend as the growth rate. Lowest survival rates were found in the untreated nubbins. Phenotypic alterations were observed in the treated nubbins where the basal corallites decreased in size with a concomitant increase in their number per unit area. This was probably due to increased mineral concentration (such as Ca2+, Na−, Mg2+, CO32−, Cl−, OH− and HCO3−) at the basal region of the nubbins. These alterations were accompanied by a significant increase in girth growth rates of the treated nubbins at their basal regions. The abundance of mineral ions at the basal region thus appeared to be utilized by the numerous small polyps for a lateral increase in size of the nubbins instead of a longitudinal increase.
- Fisheries Administrative Order No. 170-1: Series of 1991. Amending Section 3 of Fisheries Administrative Order No. 170, s. of 1990.(Department of Agriculture, 1991-04-25)