Diversity of pteridophytes in mount timolan protected landscape, zamboanga del sur, Philippines

Abstract

This study was conducted to prime the knowledge gap on the rich yet poorly known ferns and lycophytes species of Mount Timolan Protected Landscape (MTPL). A total of 152 species from 62 genera and 24 families were recorded from January-May 2019. Overall, the species of MTPL respectively holds 14%, 40%, and 71% of the recorded total species, genera, and families of ferns and lycophytes in the Philippines. The most represented families in terms of the number of genera are Polypodiaceae (10 spp.), whereas, the most represented genera in terms of the number of species were Selaginella (11 spp.). The results of the study showed that Mount Timolan Protected Landscape harbors a number of some endemic species (17 spp.), critically endangered species (1 spp.), endangered species (3 spp.), vulnerable species (5 spp.), other threatened species (5 spp.) and economically important species (25 spp.). The increasing diversity pattern of pteridophytes associated with the decreasing level of disturbance is observed, which is following the increasing disturbance hypothesis. Additionally, the high diversity of ferns and lycophytes are observed to cluster at a high elevation level (620-890 masl). Based on the conservation and ecological status of assessed ferns and lycophyte species, it is likely to strongly suggest setting a species-specific conservation management strategy to protect the threatened species. However, additional studies and thorough field explorations should also be done to conduct a re-inventory on the pteridophyte species to arrive at more scientific results to establish a real profile of the ferns and lycophyte species of Mount Timolan Protected Landscape.