The species diversity and relative abundance of mangroves in the riverbanks of 3 barangays of Binmaley, Pangasinan were assessed in November, 2021. The 3 barangays in the study were Buenlag, Manat and Basing. Based on the findings, low species diversity was registered in the three rivers with a mean diversity of H’= 0.76. A total of 10 species of mangroves belonging to 7 families were identified namely; Rhizophora apiculata, Rhizophora mucronata, Bruguiera cylindrical, Excoecaria agallocha, Avicennia officinalis, Sonneratia alba, Sonneratia caseolaris, Lumnitzera racemose, Nypa fruticans and Heritiera littoralis. There are about 75 species of true mangroves in the world where the Philippines has around 46 species and the province of Pangasinan, has reported 25 species.
Nypa fruticans dominated the mangroves with a relative abundance of 71.12%, followed by R. mucronata (14.08%), R. apiculata (10.60%), E. agallocha (1.89%), B. cylindrical (1.02%), L. racemosa (0.44%), A. officinalis (0.44), S. caseolaris (0.15%), S. alba (0.15%) and H. littoralis (0.15%).
This study was conducted by the faculty members of the College of Fisheries and Environmental Science, led by Dr. Geronimo R. Rosario, Mr. Ricardo de Guzman and Mr. Raul dela Peña.