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Traditional forest (muyong) has been recognized as a beneficial component of the rice terraces landscape of Banaue, Ifugao. It supplies irrigation water for the rice paddies (payoh); it provides firewood, timber, medicine and food for the locals; and it shelters various kinds of wildlife species. Threats have been reported to some muyong mainly due to anthropogenic activities and natural causes. Hence, protection of its biodiversity is important to sustain its ecological function and even its socio-cultural value. This study provides a botanical checklist of a muyong patch in Brgy. Kinakin, Banaue, Ifugao. A total of 52 woody species (> 3 cm DBH; > 2 m height) representing 40 genera and 31 families were recorded from the ten 10 m x 10 m quadrats. The most represented families were Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Myrtaceae and Phyllanthaceae while the most represented genera were Macaranga, Ficus, Syzygium, and Desmodium. There were eight species categorized as endemic to the Philippines and one species Alnus japonica (Thunb.) Steud. considered as introduced to the muyong. Also, there is one species (Macaranga caudatifolia Elmer) listed as threatened species in the Philippines. The dominant woody species in the muyongs were Clethra tometella Rolfe ex Dunn. (umog), Weinmannia luzoniensis Vidal (tabangawen), Calophyllum soulattri Burm. f. (bitaor), Lithocarpus submonticolus (Elmer) Rehder (palayon) and Macaranga caudatifolia Elmer. (bayyakot). In general, the observed floral composition of the muyong showed a close resemblance to the tropical lower montane forest formations of the Philippines.

Keywords: Secondary montane forest, Banaue, muyong, vegetation composition, dominant species

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Recent trends in sea cucumber fisheries show a marked increase in landings due to a strong increase in demand. The risk of overexploitation at present is high since the case of sea cucumber fisheries in Southeast Asia (SEA) shows a very complex system of interactions, where economic and social factors play important roles. Results showed that most of the countries in SEA Region, particularly Philippines and Indonesia, have the highest number of species harvested every year and placed in highest exporting countries of dried sea cucumber therefore placing them in over-exploited category. Lack of data on basic biological parameters of most species and cultural and sociological non-acceptance of aquaculture as an alternative fishing method for sea cucumber are also to blame for the decline in sea cucumber population in the wild. It is suggested that countries in SEA should implement two important steps to manage existing and future holothurian fisheries. First, the increasing rate of new fisheries had best be reduced to a level where management has time to react to early warning signs of resource depletion. Second, lacking changes in regulation, the catch trajectory and patterns of serial spatial, species and size expansion or depletion are largely predictable. Knowledge of the impending sequence of events can therefore be pre-emptively incorporated into the management of new and existing high-value marine fisheries. Overall, the study highlights the urgent need for better monitoring and reporting of catch, abundance data and proper scientific stock, and ecosystem impact assessment to ensure more sustainable harvesting of sea cucumbers.

Keywords: biodiversity loss, trepang, marine invertebrates, conservation management, tropical fisheries

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This paper outlines the current state of knowledge on Methylobacterium spp. or commonly known as Pink Pigmented Facultative Methylotrophic (PPFM) bacteria in the Philippines. This review deals with its isolation and cultural properties, colonial, microscopic, biochemical, physiological and genotypic characterization, diversity and systematics, plant- and human-association, and lastly, the research thrusts and directions applicable in the Philippines.

 Keywords: Anthony Lee, Pink Bacteria, Systematics, Plant-association,
Bioremediation

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The rich biodiversity of frogs and toads in Bangladesh is unexpected considering the rather simple topographic features of the country. Indeed, a new species, Microhyla nilphamariensis, has recently been described from Nilphamari District (northern region), Bangladesh. However, additional genetic, acoustic, and morphometric data are necessary to precisely delineate the newly described species as well as to measure conservation management. In this study we performed genetic, acoustic, and morphometric analyses. Our analyses showed that M. nilphamariensis was genetically divergent from its near congener M. ornata at 3.2% and 10.6% for the 16S rRNA and Cytb genes, respectively. Mean call duration of M. nilphamariensis was 0.42 ± 0.01 s (n = 8) and the call was composed of about 15.13 ± 0.35 rapidly repeating pulses with a pulse rate of 37.9 ± 0.4/s. Dominant frequency bands of M. nilphamariensis were much higher than those of M. ornata and M. fissipes. Principal component analyses showed that M. nilphamariensis differed from its near congeners in having shorter first and second fingers, shorter first toe, and longer inner and outer metatarsal tubercles relative to the snout-vent length.

Keywords: Mitochondrial DNA, Advertisement call, Morphometry,
Microhyla, Bangladesh

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The Gordonia bacteria are known for their exceptional ability to biodegrade a plethora of organic compounds and to produce various carotenoid pigments. Gordonia terrae USTCMS 1066, an orange hyperpigmented actinomycete isolated from a contaminated agar plate culture of Vibrio fischeri USTCMS 1026, grew rapidly in tryptic soy broth (Merck) supplemented with 0.5% yeast extract and yielded carotenoid content of 207 μg/g dry weight. It exhibited a growth rate of 0.0026 min-1 (38 min. doubling time) at 30 o C with 200 rpm orbital shaking. This strain also grew in nutrient broth (Merck) containing a high concentration of 0.05% (500 mg/L) malachite green and significantly biodegraded the initially bluish triphenylamine dye by 99.8% to colorless after 3 days of incubation at room temperature without shaking.

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