Chapter I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Seaweeds or benthic marine algae are the group of

plants that live either in marine or brackish water

environment. Like the land plants, seaweeds contain

photosynthetic pigments and with the help of sunlight and

nutrient present in the seawater, they photosynthesize and

produce food. Seaweeds are found in the coastal region up to

a depth where 0.01% photosynthetic light, exposure, depth,

temperature, tides and the shore characteristics combine to

create different environment that determine their

distribution and variety. They are basically classified

according to color into three main groups i.e. green

(Chlorophyta), brown (Phaeophyta)and red (Rhodophyta)

(http//www.nbioinformatics.in/seaweed/introduction.html,

1987).

In the Philippines, over 200,000 coastal families like

Gimotea’s engage in commercial seaweed farming, which was

first introduced in the country in the early 1970s. Five

decades later, the Philippines emerged as the world’s fourth

largest producer of aquatic plants, including seaweed. In

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2020, the country produced 1.48 million tons (1.63 million

tons) of aquatic plants, or 4.56% of the total world

production of 32.4 million tons (35.7 million tons). The

Philippines seaweeds are exported to the United States,

China, Spain, Russia and Belgium, where they are prized for

carrageenan, a gelatin-like additive used as thickening

agent and stabilizer for many foods and cosmetics products

(Fabro, 2022).

Some seaweeds are microscopic, such as the

phytoplankton that live suspended in the water column and

provide the base for most marine food chains. Some are

enormous, like the giant kelp that grow in abundant

“forests” and tower like underwater redwoods from their

roots at the bottom of the sea. Most are medium-sized, come

in colors of red, green, brown, and black, and randomly wash

up on beaches and shorelines just about everywhere

(https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/html/1987).

The vernacular “seaweed” is a bona-fide misnomer,

because a weed is a plant that spreads so profusely it can

harm the habitat where it takes hold. Not only are the fixed

and free-floating “weeds” of the sea utterly essential to

innumerable marine creatures, both as food and as habitat,

they also provide many benefits to land-dwellers, notably

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those of the human variety

(https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/html/ 1988).

In the province of Northern Samar, seaweeds are fairly

well-studied floristically, relative to the other places in

the Philippine because they are economically important, both

currently and potentially, but new updated baseline data

after the pandemic period, there has not been new listing of

the species of seaweeds and its nutritional and elemental

analysis recorded in Northern Samar.

In view of this, the researcher conducts this study to

identify the seaweeds present in the island of San Antonio,

Biri, Northern Samar to update and have a new listing of

species composition of seaweeds in the island and to further

recommend new ways in the preservation, conservation and

management practices to augment the production of these

marine plants specifically to the seaweed farmers in the

study area.
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Objectives of the study

The main objective of this study was to identify the

species composition of seaweeds in Barangay San Antonio

Biri, Northern Samar.

Specifically, this study aimed to:

1. identify the species composition of seaweeds in

Barangay San Antonio Biri, Northern Samar;

2. determine the percent cover of seaweeds in the study

area;

3. know the economic uses of seaweeds in the study area;

and,

4. describe the environmental parameters during the time

of sampling; such as:

a. pH;

b. depth;

c. temperature;

d. salinity;

e. current; and

f. substrate.
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Significance of the study

This study focused on studying the species composition

and abundance of seaweeds in Barangay San Antonio of Biri,

Northern Samar.

Furthermore, this study is significant to the

following.

Students, of the College of Science, specifically to

the Marine Biology majors and Biology majors, this study

provides new baseline data on the species composition and

abundance of seaweeds in Barangay San Antonio of Biri,

Northern Samar.

Community, in as much as all information contributes to

the knowledge of the community on the resources present in

their locality and also to contribute to the ecological

conservation of the natural resources and habitats.

Researchers, who will be guided on how to identify

different species of seaweeds, this will serve as their main

reference in formulating and creating research similar to

this present study. Moreover, this will help them identify

new variables not included in this study and further conduct

research in different locale.

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Teachers, will gain more benefits from this study. This

will serve as their main reference in the identification of

the different species of seaweeds and their guide in the

data gathering procedure, specifically during their science-

related laboratory activities in the classroom and/or on

field.

Local Government Unit (LGU), This study would help both

the barangay and municipal officials update their

resolution/s and strictly implement in the community the

proper way of protecting, managing and conserving the

seaweeds present in their specific coastal areas.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

The scope of this study was limited in the

determination of the species composition of seaweeds along

the intertidal zone of Barangay San Antonio, Biri, Northern

Samar. In addition, this study determined the abundance of

seaweeds and know their economic uses.

Moreover, the environmental parameters included to

describe the present condition of the sampling sites during

the time of sampling, were limited to pH, depth, salinity,

current, temperature and substrate.

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This study was conducted from November to December,

2022 and sampling was done during low tide and day time

only.

Definition of Terms

In order to have a better understanding of this study,

the terms below are conceptually and operationally defined

according to their usage.

Current is a continuous directed movement of seawater

generated by forces acting upon this mean flow. It also

refers to the continuous flow of the water in the study

area. Current was determined using a Ping-Pong ball into the

water surface and record its movement in meter per second

(m/s).

Depth is the measure of the distance from the ocean

surface down to the bottom of the seawater. Depth was

measured using a meter stick.

Economic uses are a social science that focusses on the

production, distribution, and consumption of goods and

services, and analyzes the choices that individuals,

business, governments, and nations make to allocate

resources.
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In this study, this referred to the economic importance

of seaweeds to the coastal residents in the study area.

Ecosystem refer to the complex of living organisms,

their physical environment, and all their interrelationships

in a particular unit of space.

Environmental parameters range from physical to

chemical characteristics and include all necessary elements

to understand environmental quality.

Percentage cover refers to the percentage of species

that convert per quadrat.

pH is a measure of the hydrogen-ion concentration in

solution and is also referred to as the degree of acidity or

alkalinity.

Salinity refers to the total concentration of the ions

presents in lake water and is usually computed from the

sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, carbonate, silicate

and halide concentrations. In this study, this was measured

using a refractometer to determine the salt content of the

sea water in the study site.

Seaweeds/algae any of the red, green or brown marine

algae that grow along seashores. In this study, this was

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collected and identified from the intertidal zone of the

study area.

Species is a group of individuals which are

reproduction isolated from other such groups. In this study,

it refers to the seaweeds species present and identified by

the researcher himself.

Species Composition is the identity of all the

different organisms that make up a community. It is the

different species of a certain organism that inhabits a

certain area.

Substrate refers to the base or soil to which the sea

grass lives. Substrate was determined through ocular

observation, whether it is sandy, rocky or muddy.

Temperature is a measure of the warmth or coldness of

an object or substance with reference to some standard

value.