| Summary, etc. |
, and PULIDO, MA. ANGELICA. 2021. MACROFAUNAL DIVERSITY ASSESSMENT OF ALAY-NANGBABAAN- BALBALDEZ RIVER IN BADOC, ILOCOS NORTE. Undergraduate Thesis. Department of Environmental Science College of Agriculture, Food and Sustainable Development. Mariano Marcos State University, City of Batac, Ilocos Norte. 39pp. Adviser: Ms. Resureccion Bernadette C. Imbat The study was conducted to evaluate and assess the diversity of macrofauna in the Alay-Nangbaban-Balbaldez river of Badoc, Ilocos Norte. The study aimed to determine the physico-chemical characteristics of the river; identify the diversity of macrofaunal species that are present in the river, and relate the species diversity and the physico-chemical characteristics of the water. Species diversity was collected through the use of Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) that was placed in three stations and was replicated three times. The physico-chemical characteristics of the river that were subjected for assessment are depth, width, flowrate, temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and total dissolved solids. The results shows that station I had the deepest average depth followed by the station III, and station II Station I was the widest, followed by station III, and the narrowest was station II. The fastest flow rate was recorded in station III, followed by station I, and station II. For the temperature, the warmest among the three stations was station II, followed by station III, and the coldest was station 1. As regards to the pH, station 2 has the highest pH, followed by station 1, while station 3 had the least pH. The pH of the three stations has passed the standard of the DAO 2016-08. The DO measured in all three stations also passed the DO standard set by the DENR. The highest recorded DO is observed in station I which is followed by station III, and station II. The highest total dissolved solid recorded is the station II, next is the station I, and the lowest was station III. In terms of turbidity, station I and III was recorded to have the highest turbidit. A total of seven species were captured in the river namely: crab (Sesarma reticulatan), shrimp (Metapeneaus spp), tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), palileng (Valencienna longipinnis waite), million fish (caestrus spp), mudfish (Opiciphelus striatus) and catfish (Clarias macrocephalus). The most diverse among the three stations was the station III, followed by station 1. The lowest diversity was observed in station II. All the three stations indicate a very low. The physico-chemical characteristics of the river such as pH and TDS had a highly significant inverse relationship with the diversity index. This implies that at low pH and TDS, the diversity index is high. The same trend was also observed with temperature which had a negative relationship with diversity index. However, the relationship is not significant. Moreover, there is a highly significant positive relationship between the flowrate and species diversity in the area. Results also shows that there is a significant relationship of the width and diversity of species in the area. This means that the greater the velocity of the water and the wider the river, the greater would be the diversity index. |
