Phytoplankton diversity and abundance in Panguil Bay, Northwestern Mindanao, Philippines in relation to some physical and chemical characteristics of the water

摘要

Phytoplankton composition diversity, abundance and their relation with the physico-chemicalparameters of the waters in two coastal sites in Panguil Bay, Philippines were compared. A total of 93species belonging to four major groups (diatoms, dinoflagellates, silicoflagellates and cyanobacteria)were identified, with the diatoms being the chief component of the phytoplankton. Using several diversityindices, results showed minimal differences in the phytoplankton species between the two sites. Theresults of NPMANOVA revealed significant differences (p<0.05) in phytoplankton relative abundancebetween sites and within sites between months. These differences were attributed to variations in thephysico-chemical characteristics of the water as reflected from the results of Canonical CorrespondenceAnalysis (CCA). Since results of the study reflect the importance of physical and chemical factors of thewater on the phytoplankton community structure in Panguil Bay, it is suggested that changes in thesefactors, may it be due to natural or anthropogenic sources, may lead to impacts or changes inphytoplankton dynamics.