The Philippine archipelago is mainly surrounded by marine and/or coastal waters. Hence, Filipinos largely depend on the sea and oceans for livelihood. Our coastal and marine waters are gifted with abundant resources in spite the threats from natural causes such as: habitat loss, eutrophication, pollution, climate change and other forms of human induced activities like overfishing, dynamite and cyanide fishing and many more. The country’s future strongly hinges on the national management and conservation of our various coastal and marine resources.
In performing the activity, the students learned to determine the physico-chemical factors in the intertidal zone, and the composition and abundance of macrophytes, macrofauna and plankton present on the selected sampling site. Tests were performed and samples were also gathered for analysis in the laboratory. Results were then collected as the basis for determination of the condition of the area being sampled.The intertidal area also called the littoral zone is where the land and sea meet, between the high and low tide zones. This complex marine ecosystem is found along coastlines worldwide. It is rich in nutrients and oxygen and is home to a variety of organisms.
This area is usually under water - it is only exposed when the tide is unusually low. Organisms in this zone are not well adapted to long periods of dryness or to extreme temperatures.Some of the organisms in this area are abalone, anemones, brown seaweed, chitons, crabs, green algae, hydroids, isopods, limpets, mussels, nudibranchs, sculpin, sea cucumber, sea lettuce, sea palms, sea stars, sea urchins, shrimp, snails, sponges, surf grass, tube worms, and whelks. Among these organisms include a variety of plankton which can be described as phytoplankton or zooplankton.
Plankton are the plants and animals that drift around on the oceans’ currents. They are abundant in the water surface where sunlight and nutrients are readily available. Phytoplankton are the microscopic plants that convert sunlight and nutrients to starch and organic matter. Not only do phytoplankton form the base of the oceans’ food chain, they also produce at least 80% of the oxygen that we breathe.
Among the animal plankton (zooplankton), common are eggs, larvae, and juvenile forms of invertebrates and fishes. Copepods (related to crabs and shrimp) are the most abundant and widely distributed zooplankton.All forms of life in the ocean depend either directly or indirectly upon plankton for food. Phytoplankton supports most of the herbivores of the sea. As the oceans’ primary producer, phytoplankton trap and store the energy contained in sunlight.
In the process of photosynthesis, the phytoplankton use carbon dioxide and water to produce food. Because they need sunlight to photosynthesize, phytoplankton are generally found near the surface of the ocean. Some scientists calculate that without the oxygen production of phytoplankton, life as we know it would not exist. This is because phytoplankton produce oxygen in proportion to the amount of carbon dioxide that they use.In conducting the study, certain precautions and instructions were observed and diligently followed.
The activity was conducted under a normal weather condition (i.e. on a bright sunny day) at the Coastal area of Buru-un, Iligan City last February 10, 2013, Sunday at around 8:00 – 9:00 in the morning. It was a low tide when the sampling was done. To obtain biotic samples, a transect line was established on the intertidal zone of the beach (directed away from the shoreline) and a 1m x 1m quadrat was set within the transect line. The quadrat was subdivided into 100 subunits.
Macrophytes and macrofauna (benthic organisms) that were within and touched the quadrat were identified and counted.
