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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.

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AGROVOC Keyword: search.filters.agrovoc.eutrophicationOcean Decade Challenge: search.filters.odc.Challenge 2: Protect and restore ecosystems and biodiversity

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    Feeding and reproductive phenotypic traits of the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla in seagrass beds impacted by eutrophication
    Bangi, Helen Grace P.; Juinio-Meñez, Marie Antonette (MDPI AG, 2023-07-11)
    The sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla is a major grazer and is, hence, an excellent key model organism to study to gain a better understanding of responses to changes in its habitat. We investigated whether there are significant variations in the feeding and reproductive phenotypic traits of populations from three seagrass bed sites, with respect to their proximity to fish farms in Bolinao, northwestern Philippines. We established three stations in each of the three sites: the far, the intermediate, and those near the fish farms, and compared the sea urchins’ phenotypic traits and determined whether these were related to seagrass productivity and water parameters. Regardless of the sampling period, adult sea urchins (66.92 ± 0.27 mm test diameter, TD, n = 157) from the areas intermediate and near to the fish farms had significantly lower indices of Aristotle’s lantern, gut contents, gut and gonads, and lower gonad quality (high percentage of unusual black gonads), compared to those from the far stations. Multivariate analysis showed that the smaller feeding structures and gut, lower consumption rates and lower gonad indices and quality of sea urchins in the intermediate and near fish farms were positively related to lower shoot density, leaf production and species diversity, as well as lower water movement in those stations. The larger size of the Aristotle’s lantern in the far stations was not related to food limitations. More importantly, the phenotypic variability in the feeding structures and gonads of sea urchins in the same seagrass bed provides new evidence regarding the sensitivity of this species to environmental factors that may affect variability in food quality.
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    Microbial community structure and settlement induction capacity of marine biofilms developed under varied reef conditions
    Padayhag, Blaire M.; Nada, Michael Angelou L.; Baquiran, Jake Ivan P.; Sison-Mangus, Marilou P.; San Diego-McGlone, Maria Lourdes; Cabaitan, Patrick C.; Conaco, Cecilia (Elsevier, 2023-08)
    Coral larval settlement relies on biogenic cues such as those elicited by microbial biofilm communities, a crucial element of coral recruitment. Eutrophication can modify these biofilm-associated communities, but studies on how this affects coral larval settlement are limited. In this study, we developed biofilm communities on glass slides at four sites with increasing distance from a mariculture zone. Biofilms farthest from the mariculture area were more effective at inducing the settlement of Acropora tenuis larvae. These biofilms were characterized by a greater proportion of crustose coralline algae (CCA) and gammaproteobacterial taxa compared to biofilms from sites closer to the mariculture zone, which had a greater proportion of cyanobacteria and no CCA. These findings suggest that nutrient enrichment due to mariculture activities alters the composition of biofilm-associated microbiome at nearby reef sites and indirectly causes poor coral larval settlement.