STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF SEAGRASS BEDS IN CLAN, SARANGANI PROVINCE USING GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION (GIS)

The status and distribution of seagass beds of Glan, Sarangani Province has never been evaluated rigorously, unlike their counterpart mangoyes and coral reefs. Geographic Information System software is a device to determine the location, scope and coverage outline of seagrass paddocks. A seagass assessment was done to know the prestige of seagrass communities using mapping software in the coastal area of Glan, Sarangani Province. Out of the 66 km total coastal area of Glan, there is a total area of 3 km of seagass beds recorded. Seagrass bed in Prk. Macatimbol, Taluya has a total area of 32.7ha, Brg. Poblacion with 3.36ha and lastly Brgy. Glan Padidu with 10.4ha. A total of 8 species of seagrasses were observed in the area with sandy, muddy, sandy-muddy substrate which are Halodule pinifoliu (26%), Cymodocea rotundata (14%), Halophila ovulis (15%), Thalassia hemprichli (14%), Enhalus ucoroides (16%), Syringoclizon isoelifolium (4%) and Cyrnodocea serrulata (11%) and the eighth species Thalassodendron ciliation was only noticed far from the assessed area. Ilalodule pin f ilia has the highest overall mean cover of 26%. The results confirm that seagrass beds in Glan, Sarangani Province has an overall cover of 40.09%. Shannon-Wiener (Shannon 1948), seagrass species diversity was classified in medium category. This means that the area deals with ecological pressure due to a variety of activities around the coast, Index values obtained dominance in Glan, Sarangani Province waters has a range of 0.6 to 0.56 belonging to low category and lastly, seagrass species in Glan, Sarangani Province has a range of 0.94 to 0.95 (Table 4). Based on the criteria of evenness Odum (1971), all barangays resulted to high evenness value. Evaluation of the municipality was "disturbed" seagrass area. Moreover, the areas were also observed to receive constant anthropogenic doings such as; Infrastructures for recreational purposes, Aqtriculture, Naturally made run-offs and Human settlements. Yearly assessment of seagass with the help of authorities and follow up studies of imp generation that also targets to identify the source of changes in seagass abundance and distribution is recommended.