A preliminary checklist of vascular plants of Mt. Arayat National Park, Pampanga, Philippines

摘要

The Mt. Arayat National Park (MANP) is one of the oldest national parks and protected areasin the Philippines. However, very few published studies have been carried out despite its speculatedhigh potential of biodiversity. Therefore, this paper intends to provide a preliminarychecklist of vascular plants in MANP with emphasis on their conservation status. Severalfloristic surveys were conducted in the South and North peaks of MANP. A total of 98 speciesbelonging to 92 genera and 43 families were identified. Of them, Leguminosae was the largestfamily which contributed 10 species, followed by Euphorbiaceae and Moraceae with 7 specieseach. The most dominated genera were: Ficus with 3 species, and Artocarpus, Litsea, andMacaranga with 2 species each. Based on IUCN criteria and DENR records, a total of 10species were threatened while only 8 were least concern and the rest were not evaluated.Among those threatened plants, Cycas riuminiana was the most notable due to its endemicityin MANP. The slash-and-burn farming was one the several threats witnessed in the mountain.Thus, this checklist is vital as it provides a scientific information on MANP’s plant diversityand distribution which is a useful starting point for further ecological and bio-prospective researchin the area.