UNACOMODELI
UNESCO - Philippine National Commission (UNACOM) Online and Digital Enabling Library and Index
The UNESCO - Philippine National Commission Online and Digital Enabling Library and Index (UNACOMODELI) aims to support UNESCO’s core mission of building peace in the minds of the people through education, science, culture, and communication.
The UNACOM Online and Digital Enabling Library and Index is developed to advance the mutual knowledge and understanding, and encourage cooperation among the nations in all branches of intellectual activity, such as the exchange of publications, objects of artistic and scientific interest, and other materials of information. UNACOMODELI will serve as UNESCO - Philippine National Commission’s institutional memory and a source of high-quality information on UNESCO - Philippine National Commission's intellectual activities (in education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information). The ultimate goal is to share knowledge and to transmit it to future generations.
Particularly, it aims to:
- Provide online access to UNESCO - Philippine National Commission publications, documents, and other materials.
- Index and promote UNESCO - Philippine National Commission-sponsored and -collaborative publications, and national committee members' and partner agencies’ publications, reports, policies, laws, legislations, articles, and other materials.
- Gather and index materials in the country that support UN Sustainable Development Goals, address the Ocean Decade challenges, and build capacity in the identification, inventorying, and safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage.
The UNACOMODELI collections include UNESCO and UNESCO - Philippine National Commission publications, speeches, press releases, capacity building materials, UNESCO - Philippine National Commission-sponsored publications, and other publications of interest to UNESCO.
📷 Credit: Gregory Piper / Ocean Image Bank 🔗
Collections in UNACOMODELI
Select a community to browse its collections.
- Education Committee - Education transforms lives
- Science and Technology (Natural Sciences) Committee - Science for a sustainable future
- Social & Human Sciences - Building inclusive and sustainable economies and societies
Recent Submissions
Evolutionary trends in large pelagic filter-feeders
Stiefel, Klaus M. (Informa UK Limited, 2020-01-16)
This paper attempts a synthesis of the evolution of large pelagic filter-feeding animals from the Cambrian to the present. Lineages known or suspected to have evolved large pelagic filter-feeding species are, in the order of their appearance, stem euarthropods, agnathan fishes, nautiloid cephalopods, placoderms, sharks, bony fishes, reptiles, ammonite cephalopods, and mammals. I discuss evolutionary trends which are apparent from the evolution of the large pelagic filter-feeding niche, which are 1. a size increase relative to their ancestral species, 2. the transition between taxonomic groups giving rise to pelagic filter-feeders, with vertebrates dominating the post-Cambrian, 3. the evolution of large pelagic filter-feeders from large carnivores in most, but not all cases, and 4. lengthy gaps in the record of pelagic filter-feeders around four of the big five mass extinctions.
Chemical profiling of the Arctic sea lettuce Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta) mass-cultivated on land under controlled conditions for food applications
Roleda, Michael Y.; Lage, Sandra; Aluwini, Daniel Fonn; Rebours, Céline; Brurberg, May Bente; Nitschke, Udo; Gentili, Francesco G. (Elsevier BV, 2021-03)
The increasing use of seaweeds in European cuisine led to cultivation initiatives funded by the European Union. Ulva lactuca, commonly known as sea lettuce, is a fast growing seaweed in the North Atlantic that chefs are bringing into the local cuisine. Here, different strains of Arctic U. lactuca were mass-cultivated under controlled conditions for up to 10 months. We quantified various chemical constituents associated with both health benefits (carbohydrates, protein, fatty acids, minerals) and health risks (heavy metals). Chemical analyses showed that long-term cultivation provided biomass of consistently high food quality and nutritional value. Concentrations of macroelements (C, N, P, Ca, Na, K, Mg) and micronutrients (Fe, Zn, Co, Mn, I) were sufficient to contribute to daily dietary mineral intake. Heavy metals (As, Cd, Hg and Pb) were found at low levels to pose health risk. The nutritional value of Ulva in terms of carbohydrates, protein and fatty acids is comparable to some selected fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains.
Assessing the viability of commercial media for the mass culture of Chaetoceros muelleri
Cabanayan-Soy, Rona; de Peralta, Glycinea; Juinio–Meñez, Marie Antonette (National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, 2021-12)
The microalgae Chaetoceros muelleri is considered a highly nutritious feed for the cultured larvae of the tropical sea cucumber Holothuria scabra. Due to the cost of analytical grade culture media used in the production of C. muelleri, there is a need to evaluate cheap alternative commercial media to decrease the cost of producing quality live microalgal food. In this study, two different indoor batch culture systems (1 L glass bottles and 10 L plastic carboys) were used to evaluate the effectiveness of two conventional (modified F/2 and Walne’s) and one commercial (Epizyme AGP complete) microalgal culture media. Results of the 1 L glass bottle experiment showed that the peak cell density of C. muelleri in AGP (1,241 ± 116 x 104 cells ml-1) was not significantly different from the modified F/2 (1,584 ± 41 x 104 cells ml-1) and Walne’s medium (1,319 ± 162 x 104 cells ml-1) (Kruskal-Wallis test, p=0.78). Likewise, in the plastic carboy experiment, the maximum cell density of C. muelleri in Walne’s medium (750 ± 144 x 104 cells ml-1) and F/2 medium (653 ± 79 x 104 cells ml-1) were higher, but not significantly different from AGP (496 ± 184 x 104 cells ml-1) (Kruskal-Wallis test, p=0.43). The highest growth rate in the glass bottle cultures was the modified F/2 (0.38 div day-1), while AGP was the lowest (0.34 div. day-1). On the other hand, in carboy culture, AGP was higher (0.17 div.day-1) compared to modified F/2 (0.15 div. day-1) and Walne’s medium (0.13 div. day-1). The exponential growth phase was similar in the glass bottles, while in the carboy, the exponential phase was reached at a shorter time in the AGP treatment than those in the modified F/2 and Walne’s media. The findings showed that AGP medium is an adequate alternative to replace the conventional media (modified F/2 and Walne’s) during the secondary stock culture for C. muelleri. The viability of using cheaper and more readily available commercial AGP media for the indoor culture production of C. muelleri can contribute to cost-effective scaling-up of the hatchery production of quality H. scabra larvae and early juveniles.
The authors would like to thank Dr. Rene Abesamis for his valuable comments and the two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions to improve the manuscript. We are also grateful for the guidance of Ms. Elsie Tech in improving the microalgal cultures and providing valuable inputs for this paper. We also thank the Sea Cucumber Research Team and the staff of the University of the Philippines - Marine Science Institute, Bolinao Marine Laboratory for their support and assistance during the conduct of the study. We would also like to acknowledge the Department of Science and Technology Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRDQSR-MR-CUC.02.02) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR – FIS/2003/059) for the financial support in the conduct of this study.
Genetic differentiation and signatures of local adaptation revealed by RADseq for a highly dispersive mud crab Scylla olivacea (Herbst, 1796) in the Sulu Sea
Mendiola, Michael John R.; Ravago‐Gotanco, Rachel (Wiley, 2021-05-04)
Connectivity of marine populations is shaped by complex interactions between biological and physical processes across the seascape. The influence of environmental features on the genetic structure of populations has key implications for the dynamics and persistence of populations, and an understanding of spatial scales and patterns of connectivity is crucial for management and conservation. This study employed a seascape genomics approach combining larval dispersal modeling and population genomic analysis using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) obtained from RADseq to examine environmental factors influencing patterns of genetic structure and connectivity for a highly dispersive mud crab Scylla olivacea (Herbst, 1796) in the Sulu Sea. Dispersal simulations reveal widespread but asymmetric larval dispersal influenced by persistent southward and westward surface circulation features in the Sulu Sea. Despite potential for widespread dispersal across the Sulu Sea, significant genetic differentiation was detected among eight populations based on 1,655 SNPs (FST = 0.0057, p < .001) and a subset of 1,643 putatively neutral SNP markers (FST = 0.0042, p < .001). Oceanography influences genetic structure, with redundancy analysis (RDA) indicating significant contribution of asymmetric ocean currents to neutral genetic variation (R2adj = 0.133, p = .035). Genetic structure may also reflect demographic factors, with divergent populations characterized by low effective population sizes (Ne < 50). Pronounced latitudinal genetic structure was recovered for loci putatively under selection (FST = 0.2390, p < .001), significantly correlated with sea surface temperature variabilities during peak spawning months for S. olivacea (R2adj = 0.692–0.763; p < .050), suggesting putative signatures of selection and local adaptation to thermal clines. While oceanography and dispersal ability likely shape patterns of gene flow and genetic structure of S. olivacea across the Sulu Sea, the impacts of genetic drift and natural selection influenced by sea surface temperature also appear as likely drivers of population genetic structure. This study contributes to the growing body of literature documenting population genetic structure and local adaptation for highly dispersive marine species, and provides information useful for spatial management of the fishery resource.
This project was funded by the Department of Science and Technology—Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD project no. QSR-IA-MCR.05.01), and implemented by the University of the Philippines—Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI). MJM acknowledges support provided by the DOST-Accelerated Science and Technology Human Resource Development Program (ASTHRDP; Thesis Grant) and the UP-MSI (Thesis Writing Grant). We are deeply thankful to Dr. Evangeline Magdaong, Jeniffer De Maligaya, and Benedict Castro of the Physical Oceanography Laboratory, UP-MSI headed by Dr. Cesar Villanoy for the larval dispersal biophysical modeling, Angela Camille Aguila and Simon Alcantara for laboratory assistance, Bhenjamin Ona for the remote sensing data, Dr. Din Matias for analysis recommendations, Von Yip for QGIS assistance, and Dr. Richard Mualil and Yunadzmal Ong of Mindanao State University (MSU Tawi-Tawi) for sample collection. We also thank Sharon Magnuson and Chris Bird (Genomics Core Lab, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi) for performing the RAD sequencing. We thank the reviewers whose comments and insights greatly improved the manuscript. This is MSI contribution number 483.
Precipitation stable isotopic signatures of tropical cyclones in Metropolitan Manila, Philippines, show significant negative isotopic excursions
Jackisch, Dominik; Yeo, Bi Xuan; Switzer, Adam D.; He, Shaoneng; Cantarero, Danica Linda M.; Siringan, Fernando P.; Goodkin, Nathalie F. (Copernicus GmbH, 2022-01-28)
Tropical cyclones have devastating impacts on the environment, economies, and societies and may intensify in the coming decades due to climate change. Stable water isotopes serve as tracers of the hydrological cycle, as isotope fractionation processes leave distinct precipitation isotopic signatures. Here we present a record of daily precipitation isotope measurements from March 2014 to October 2015 for Metropolitan Manila, a first-of-a-kind dataset for the Philippines and Southeast Asia. We show that precipitation isotopic variation at our study site is closely related to tropical cyclones. The most negative shift in δ18O values (−13.84 ‰) leading to a clear isotopic signal was caused by Typhoon Rammasun, which directly hit Metropolitan Manila. The average δ18O value of precipitation associated with tropical cyclones is −10.24 ‰, whereas the mean isotopic value for rainfall associated with non-cyclone events is −5.29 ‰. Further, the closer the storm track is to the sampling site, the more negative the isotopic values are, indicating that in situ isotope measurements can provide a direct linkage between isotopes and typhoon activities in the Philippines.
This research was supported by the Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS) via its funding from the National Research Foundation Singapore and the Ministry of Education of Singapore under the Research Centres of Excellence initiative. This work comprises EOS contribution no. 422. This study is also the part of the IAEA Coordinated Research Project (CRP code: F31004) on “Stable Isotopes in Precipitation and Paleoclimatic Archives in Tropical Areas to Improve Regional Hydrological and Climatic Impact Models” (IAEA Research Agreement no. 17980).