On species-shift issue: dominance of non-commercially important epifauna in the coastal areas of Lanao del Norte, Philippines

Abstract

Overgleaning of commercially-important seashells could alter balance of the epifaunal communities within a coastal area. This results to dominance of certain species, which may not be economically and ecologically favorable. Hence, a study was conducted to assess if dominance of non-commercially important epifaunal species happened in the coastal areas of Lanao del Norte as a consequence of overgleaning. Line transect-quadrat method was used to account the epifauna species seen. Results revealed a total of 3665 and 906 individuals belonging to 65 and 47 species, respectively, which are distributed into seven taxa, namely, Gastropoda, Holothuroidea, Bivalvia, Ophuiroidea, Malacostraca, Echinoidea and Demospongea. Theseepifauna species inhabiting the mangrove and tidal flat areas were generally of no commercial values. This is a glaring effect of overgleaning activities that alter the emergence of commercially-important epifauna. This would not only adversely affect their economic values but the ecological services they previously played as well. It is imperative therefore, that the local governments and the residents must revisit the implementation of regulatory mechanisms to protect the commercially-important epifauna and their habitat from overexploitation. This is to ensure the economic and ecological sustainability of epifauna species for the present and future generations.