CHAPTER 2

The Review of Related Literature

This chapter presents the relevant literature and studies that the researcher

considered in strengthening the importance of the present study. It also presents the

synthesis of the art to fully understand the research for better comprehension of the

study.

2.1 Legal Basis

Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act. (Republic Act No. 9147).

An Act providing for the conservation and protection of wildlife resources and their

habitats, appropriating funds therefor and for other purposes. Thus, illegal collection of

ferns, especially from the wild is highly prohibited and is punishable under the provision

of Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act.

2.2 Foreign Literature

According to Christenhusz and Chase (2014), ferns (Trancheophyta), are vascular

plants that produce spores and alternate generations (with separate gametophyte and

sporophyte generations that exist as free-living plants). In this regard, lycopods are

similar to ferns, but ferns are the sister group of seed plants (gymnosperms plus

angiosperms), whereas lycopods are sister to all other vascular plants (ferns plus the

seed plants). Mosses, hornworts, and liverworts (bryophytes) are also spore-producing

plants with generations that alternate, but their sporophytes are smaller and dependent

on the dominant gametophyte stage.

 According to Britannica (2020), Spike moss (family Selaginellaceae), a mossy or

fernlike seedless vascular plant family of over 700 species in the order Selaginellales.

Selaginella is the only genus in the family. They are found all over the world, but are

most common in the tropics. Many are forest plants; some grow on trees, while others

thrive in dry or semi-dry conditions. (See also lower vascular plant and lycophyte.) Spike

mosses have spirally arranged or in ranks of four scale like leaves on trailing, climbing,

or erect stems and branches. The spore-bearing leaves resemble regular leaves but are

arranged in spikes, or strobili. All of the species are heterosporous, which means they

produce spores of two sizes, the larger known as megaspores and the smaller known

as microspores. Megaspores develop into female gametophytes, while microspores

develop into male gametophytes. Both kinds of spores have thick walls and prominent

three-part (triradiate) ridges.

The visible light spectrum, according to Nasa Science (2010), is the portion of the

electromagnetic spectrum that the human eye can see. Simply put, this range of

wavelengths is known as visible light. The human eye can detect wavelengths ranging

from 380 to 700 nanometers. All electromagnetic radiation is light, but we can only see

a small portion of it, which we refer to as visible light. Our eyes' cone-shaped cells serve

as receivers tuned to wavelengths in this narrow band of the spectrum. Other parts of

the spectrum have wavelengths that are too large or too small and energetic for our

biological perception.

Newton demonstrated that color is light quality. To comprehend color, it is necessary

to first comprehend the light. Light, as a type of electromagnetic radiation, shares

properties with both waves and particles. It can be imagined as a stream of minute
energy packets radiated at different frequencies in a wave motion. A specific frequency,

wavelength, and energy value is associated with each beam of light. Frequency is

commonly expressed in hertz (1 Hz = 1 cycle per second), which is the number of

waves passing a fixed point in space in a unit of time.

2.2 Local Literature

Department of Environment and Natural resources (2011) stated that ferns are found

throughout the tropics as part of the plant community. According to literature, the earth's

fern vegetation consists of approximately 9,000 species, 943 of which are known to

occur in the Philippines.