MAPPING INDICATORS OF EXPOSURE AND VULNERABILITY: ECOLOGICAL FACTORS Center for Environmental Geomatics Climate Studies Division Manila Observatory Dissemination Workshop for Mapping Philippine Vulnerability to Environmental Disasters Klima Climate Change Center 8 July 2005

OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PHILIPPINES THE COUNTRY’S BIODIVERSITY/ ECOSYSTEM AND SPECIES DIVERSITY BIODIVERSITY AND HAZARDS BIODIVERSITY AND POPULATION SYNTHESIS

ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PHILIPPINES W/in the “Ring of Fire” (Volcanoes and fault lines) Along typhoon belts 7,100 islands Each island with unique biotic assemblage 30 M (million) land area 220 M hectares (archipelagic water) 22,450 km coastline

ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PHILIPPINES Cont’d Distinct bioregions Based on the geological history of the country Each has distinct ecosystem & species diversity Biodiversity corridors Palawan, Sierra Madre, Eastern Visayas Map of ecoregions (pls follow update Fig. 1 * Include biodiversity corridors )

COUNTRY’S BIODIVERSITY/ ECOSYSTEM AND SPECIES DIVERSITY Biodiversity is the foundation of healthy & functioning ecosystems

COUNTRY’S BIODIVERSITY/ ECOSYSTEM AND SPECIES DIVERSITY Cont’d Terrestrial resources Mangrove forest Beach forest Dipterocarp forest Molave forest Pine forest Mossy forest Grassland

COUNTRY’S BIODIVERSITY/ ECOSYSTEM AND SPECIES DIVERSITY Cont’d Freshwater lakes V olcanic lakes landlocked -  endemic species Introduction of invasive alien species Marshland River systems

COUNTRY’S BIODIVERSITY/ ECOSYSTEM AND SPECIES DIVERSITY Cont’d Marine Corals Coral fauna richest in the world (430 species) Seaweed beds Sea grass beds Epicenter for marine biodiversity

COUNTRY’S BIODIVERSITY/ ECOSYSTEM AND SPECIES DIVERSITY Cont’d Plant Group 14,000 species 9,000 species of vasculars 45% - 60% endemism 227 species in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Phil. forest is the heart of biodiversity Fig. 1 (p.3)

COUNTRY’S BIODIVERSITY/ ECOSYSTEM AND SPECIES DIVERSITY Cont’d Animal Group 78% endemicity level for amphibians 32 threatened species of amphibians & reptiles 195 out of 576 endemic species of birds greatest concentration of mammalian diversity new species found in high elevations & small oceanic islands

COUNTRY’S BIODIVERSITY/ ECOSYSTEM AND SPECIES DIVERSITY Cont’d Animal group 2,500 fish species Largest living fish (whale shark) Irrawady dolphin found (in the Philippines) only in Malampaya sound Seacows (dugong) eat seagrass

Typhoons Earthquakes & Tsunamis Landslides Volcanic eruptions Lightning Natural forest fires BIODIVERSITY AND HAZARDS

BIODIVERSITY AND POPULATION 86 M population 2% growth rate Concentration of population Direct pressures on biodiversity Extractive industries Infrastructure development Land conversion Poverty & migration

BIODIVERSITY AND POPULATION Cont’d Increasing water demand yet limited/ threatened supply Water-related hazards

SYNTHESIS GIS help to assess ecological conditions that are both threatened and are threats (an ecological hazard) Rich Philippine biodiversity and the socio-economic pressures threatening it heightens the urgent need to preserve these resources that the human community relies on. Pressures of human population expansion and activity must be checked and regulated to prevent irreversible losses in terms of resources. Resource benefits (economic and otherwise) are not sufficiently quantified, as new species and uses/ value are continuously being discovered. Integrated Marine and Terrestrial Priorities Land Cover Land Use Classification (2 versions) Philippine Ecoregions NAMRIA Base Map by Province Groundwater Availability Groundwater Resource Types of Habitat Philippine Forest Cover and Cover Types 1997 and Projected 1999 Major River Basins, Water Resources Regions and Critical Watersheds Threatened Resources and Biodiversity Slope map