Home⇛Annals of Tropical Research⇛vol. 40 no. 2 (2018)

Chlorophyll content of Thalassia hemprichii (Ehrenberg) Ascherson leaves in some coastal areas of Cebu Island, Central Philippines

Lorenzo C. Halasan | Danilo T. Dy

 

Abstract:

Variations in the chlorophyll concentrations in seagrass leaves can be used to indicate biomass, productivity and overall ecosystem condition in coastal areas. In this study, we determined the chlorophyll content (ie chl and ) of from selected coastal areas in Cebu Island, Central Philippines to determine if there were spatial variations between intertidal (0m) and subtidal (1.5m) sections, and in the five geographically separate coastal areas of the island. Pigment extraction was done using 95% acetone, the solution analyzed via spectrophotometry and quantified using the equation of Ritchie (2006). The values were statistically compared using nonparametric tests. Mean chlorophyll content and chlorophyll ratio of showed no significant variations between intertidal and subtidal sections: F(4,45) =27.75, for mean chlorophyll content and F(4,45) =18.28, for chlorophyll ratio. However, there was significant difference between geographic areas ( ). Although tend to display a physiological response to shading and light limitation, the difference in depth (≈ 1.5m) between intertidal and subtidal sections did not produce a statistically meaningful difference. However, the significant differences between sites for the chlorophyll content and chlorophyll ratio of could guide future decision in seagrass transplantation of specific localities.



References:

  1. Abal EG, Loneragan N, Bowen P, Perry CJ, Udy JW & Dennison WC. 1994. Physiological and morphological responses of the seagrass Zostera capricorni Aschers. to light intensity. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 178(1):113-129
  2. Ali S, Sin TM, He J & Goh BPL 2012. The effects of in-situ water column nutrient enrichment on the seagrass Thalassia hemprichii (Ehrenb.) Aschers.: A pilot study at St. John's Island, Singapore. Contributions to Marine Science. (pp101-111)
  3. Biber PD. 2007. Evaluating a chlorophyll content meter on three coastal wetland plant species. Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science, 1:1-11
  4. Clores MA and Carandang JS. 2013. Chlorophyll content, productivities and biomass allocations of seagrasses in Talim Bay, Lian, Batangas, Philippines. Proceedings of the International Academy of Ecology and Environmental Sciences. (pp247-256)
  5. Collier CJ, Waycott M & Ospina AG. 2012. Responses of four Indo-west Pacific seagrass species to shading. Marine Pollution Bulletin, (65:342-354)
  6. Cullen JJ. 1982. The deep chlorophyll maximum comparing vertical profiles of chlorophyll Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science, 39(5):791-803
  7. Dale MP and Causton DR. 1992. Use of chlorophyll a/b ratio as a bioassay for the light environment of a plant. Functional Ecology, 6(2):190-196
  8. Dawes CJ. 1998. Marine Botany (2nd edn). John Wiley & Sons, USA
  9. Den Hartog C. 1970. The seagrass of the world. North-Holland, Amsterdam, London. (pp275)
  10. Dennison WC and Alberte RS. 1982 Photosynthetic response of Zostera marina to in situ manipulation of light intensity. Oecologia, 55(2):137-144
  11. Dennison WC and Alberte RS. 1985. Role of daily red light period in the depth distribution of Zostera marina. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 25:51-61
  12. Enríquez S. 2005. Light absorption efficiency and the package effect in the leaves of the seagrass Thalassia testudinum. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 289:141-150
  13. Fong CW, Lee SY & Wu RSSS. 2000. The effects of epiphytic algae and their grazers on the intertidal seagrass Zostera japonica. Aquatic Botany, 67(4):251-261
  14. Fortes MD and Santos KF. 2004. Seagrass ecosystems of the Philippines: Status, problems and management directions. In: Turbulent Seas: The status of Philippine marine fisheries (DA-BFAR, eds). CRMP-DENR, Cebu City. (pp90-95)
  15. Fuss CM and Kelly JA. 1969. Survival and growth of sea grasses transplanted under artificial conditions. Bulletin of Marine Science, 19(2):351-365
  16. Fyfe SK. 2003. Spatial and temporal variation in spectral reflectance: Are Seagrass species spectrally distinct? Limnology and Oceanography, 48(2):464-479
  17. Garrigue C. 1998. Distribution and biomass of microphytes measured by benthic chlorophyll a in a tropical lagoon (New Caledonia, South Pacific). Hydrobiologia, 385(1):1- 10
  18. Granger S and Lizumi H. 2001. Water quality measurement method for seagrass habitat. In Global Seagrass Research Method (Short FT and Coles RG eds). Elsevier Science. BV, Amsterdam. (pp394-406)
  19. Jeffrey SW and Humphrey GF. 1975. New spectrophotometric equations for determining chlorophylls a, b, c1 and c2 in higher plants, algae, and natural phytoplankton. Journal of Biochemistry and Physiology Pflanzen, 167(2):191-194
  20. Kelly JA, Fuss CM & Hall JR. 1971. The transplanting and survival of turtle-grass, Thalassia testudinum, in Boca Ciega Bay, Florida. Fishery Bulletin, 69(2):273-279
  21. Kettenring KM, Mercer KL, Adams CR & Hines J. 2014. Application of genetic diversity- ecosystem function research to ecological restoration. Journal of Applied Ecology, 51(2):339-348
  22. Lee KS and Dunton KH. 1997. Effects of in situ light reduction on the maintenance, growth and partitioning of carbon resources in Thalassia testudinum Banks ex König. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 210(1):53-73
  23. Macauley JM, Clark JR & Price WA. 1988. Seasonal changes in the standing crop and chlorophyll content of Thalassia testudinum Banks ex König and its epiphytes in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Aquatic Botany, 31(3-4):277-287
  24. Meñez E, Philips RC & Calumpong HP. 1983. Seagrass from the Philippines. Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences, 21:1-40
  25. Newmaster AF, Berg KJ, Ragupathy S, Palanisamy M, Sambandan K & Newmaster SG 2011. Local knowledge and conservation of seagrasses in the Tamil Nadu State of India. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 7:37
  26. PhilGIS. 2018. Basemap for Cebu and Philippines. Retrieved from: http://philgis.org/.Accessed on 2018 February 05
  27. Ralph PJ and Burchett MD. 1995. Photosynthetic responses of Halophila ovalis (R. Br.) Hook f. to high irradiance stress using Chlorophyll a fluorescence. Aquatic Botany, 51:55- 66
  28. Ralph PJ, Durako MJ, Enriquez S, Collier CJ & Doblin MA. 2007. Impact of light limitation on seagrasses. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 350(1-2):176-193
  29. Rasheed MA, Mckenna SA, Taylor HA & Sankey TL. 2008. Long term seagrass monitoring in Port Curtis and Rodss Bay, Gladstone October 2007. DPI&F Publication PR07-3271 (DPI&F, Cairns). (pp32)
  30. Ritchie RJ. 2006. Consistent sets of spectrophotometric chlorophyll equations for acetone, methanol and ethanol solvents. Photosynthesis Research, 89(1):27-41
  31. Sand-jensen K. 1977. Effect of epiphytes on eelgrass photosynthesis. Aquatic Botany, 3:55-63
  32. Smithsonian Ocean (Internet). 2018. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution; (updated 2018 April; cited 2018 September 22). Available from: https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/plants-algae/seagrass-and-seagrass-bed
  33. Wiginton JR and Mcmillan C. 1979. Chlorophyll composition under controlled light conditions as related to the distribution of seagrasses in Texas and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Aquatic Botany, 6:171-184
  34. Wirachwong P and Holmer M. 2010. Nutrient dynamics in 3 morphological different tropical seagrass and their sediments. Aquatic Botany, 93(3):170-178
  35. Zhang J, Huang X & Jiang Z. 2014. Physiological responses of the seagrass Thalassia hemprichii (Ehrenb.) Aschers as indicators of nutrient loading. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 83(2):508-515

Tools


Copyright © 2025  KITE Digital Educational Solutions |  Exclusively distributed by CE-Logic