Cynthia Grace C. de la Cruz, Josefina April C. Lim, Zola Jane S. Ojacastro (Februrary 2008)
Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus – Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PSHS WVC), Brgy. Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City 5000, Philippines
ABSTRACT
The mangrove Rhizophora spp. seedling and sapling ages can be determined from the counts of the number of internodes. Age reconstruction technique was used to determine the growth of Rhizophora spp. in terms of internodal length in oiled (Taklong Island, Guimaras) and unoiled (Lawi, Jordan, Guimaras) areas. In the oiled site, the growth of Rhizophora spp. increased from March 2005 to May 2005. Growth decreased from May 2005 to August 2006 and did not show any significant increase or decrease from August 2006 to December 2007. In the unoiled site, the growth Rhizophora spp. increased from March 2005 to April 2005. Growth decreased from April 2005 to August 2006 and did not show any significant increase or decrease from August 2006 to January 2008. The Rhizophora spp. seedlings and saplings in the oiled and un-oiled sites showed similar growth when described using mean internodal lengths over a period of two years.