Assessment of Seagrass and Macrobenthic Algae in Pujada Bay, Mati, Davao Oriental

The Status of the existing seagrass and algae meadows of Pujada Bay, Mati, Davao Oriental was assessed from September 2001 to August 2002. The structure of seagrass and algae communities was determined using the Transect-Quadrat Method. A total of g species of seagrass was identified in the study area: These were Cymodocea rotundata, Cymodocee senulata, Enhatus acoroides, Haludule pinifolia, Haludole unineniis, Halophila minor, Halophila ovalis, Syringodium isoetifolium and Thalassia hemprichii. Taitaidaga station had the highest percent cover (41%) of seagrass dominantly covered with species of H. ovalis (11%) and H. minor (8%) while Manguihay station had the lowest percent cover (24%) of T. hernprichii (12%) and C. rotundata (5%). In terms of its density (shoots/m²), it is noted that Lawigan had the highest density (1,720 shoots/m²) of S. isoetifolium (438 shoots/m²) and T. hemprichii (431 shoot/m²) while Manguihay (955 shoots/m²) had again the lowest density of seagrass species where T. hemprichii (524 shoot/m²) and H. ovalis (169 shoot/m²) dominated the site. Fifty-seven species of algae were identified. These consist of Chlorophyta (green algae) having 25 species under 9 families: Rhodophyta (Red algae) with 16 species under 6 families and Phaeophyta (Brown algae) with 13 species under 4 families. The highest percent frequency (41 %) of macrobenthic algae is noted in Taitaidaga station while Manguihay (69%) the lowest. Lawigan had the highest percent cover (11%) and Manguihay (5%) had the least cover. It is dominantly covered with green algae (43%) followed by red algae (35%) and brown algae (27%).