VEGETATION WITHIN NINOY AQUINO PARKS AND WILDLIFE CENTER: A PRELIMINARY RESULT By Philippine Native Plant Conservation Society,

Inc. (PNPCSI) I. Introdu t!on The Ninoy Aquino Parks and ildli!e Center (NAP C) is a !enced "".# hectares o! $reen ur%an park located in the &idst o! 'ue(on City, considered as one o! the %usiest and &ost cro)ded &etropolis in the country. The Park is a proclai&ed protected area in "**# under the National Inte$rated Protected Area Syste& (NIPAS) Act o! +,,". The Park )as once a rollin$ $rassland area predo&inantly covered )ith co$on (Imperata cylindrica), interspersed )ith so&e scattered )oody trees and shru%s and a &an-&ade la$oon e.cavated out o! ado%e stones. /any o! the old trees have perished over the last !e) years due to old a$e and stron$ typhoons that o!ten ti&es visited the &etropolis. 0nly a !e) o! these trees re&ain, such as the century old 1icus species. 2ike in &any ur%an parks )orld)ide, the native plants at NAP C have %een displaced or replaced, %oth accidentally and intentionally, %y &ore resilient and adapta%le species. The Park &ay %e classi!ied as a reha%ilitated ur%an !orest area no) consistin$ o! at least 34 species o! indi$enous and introduced trees and shru%s (5duarte, 1e%ruary "**3 as cited %y Cati%o$-Siha, "**3), and these ve$etation provides a pleasant at&osphere !or rela.ation and learnin$ in the &idst o! the %usy and hi$hly dense ur%an settin$. 2ike)ise, so&e native %irds %elon$in$ to so&e ten (+*) species )ere recorded in the Park. 6o)ever, the decline in the diversity o! the native species %eco&es &ore apparent to)ards the city core (/c7inney, "**" as cited %y Cati%o$-Sinha, "**3). The ho&o$eni(ation o! ve$etation and predo&inance o! e.otic plants are the &a8or reasons !or the decline o! avian diversity and the alteration o! the ecolo$ical structure o! several )ildli!e co&&unities in the park. At present, the Park consists o! patches o! ve$etation, a #-hectare &an-&ade la$oon, a 9,*** sq.& o! &ini (oo or )ildli!e rescue center, recreational !acilities and architectural desi$n o! &any %uildin$s )hich si&ulate a natural park. Cati%o$-Sinha ("**3) !ound that NAP C !alls under Class : park cate$ory %ased on recreational opportunity spectru& (;0S) !ra&e)ork o! analysis indicatin$ that it is heavily &odi!ied, intensively &ana$ed, very accessi%le and a !requently visited tourist destination.

II. Pr"#!$!n%r& R"'u#t' A co&prehensive inventory coverin$ all the trees and other !ree-standin$ )oody plants )as conducted !ro& +" <anuary "**3 to +4 April "**3 at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and ildli!e Center (NAP C) in 'ue(on City, a "".# hectares o! pu%lic recreation area &aintained under the &ana$e&ent o! the Protected Areas and ildli!e Bureau (PA B) under the =epart&ent o! 5nviron&ent and Natural ;esources (=5N;). All the ste&s )ith a dia&eter o! >".: c& =B6 )ere ta$$ed, &easured, and identi!ied to its correspondin$ species. Because o! the i&practicality o! esta%lishin$ a $rid syste& and &arkin$ this )ith correspondin$ stakes on the $round, it )as decided that a syste& o! areas and su%-areas (++ &a8or areas !urther divided into ## su%-areas) )as %e used to serve as a $uide in locatin$ all the trees !or !uture &onitorin$ purposes. 1or the &ost part, the &ain $uide areas !ollo) the syste& used %y the Park Superintendent (PAS?) 0!!ice in trackin$ do)n personnel &ove&ent )ithin the Park@s pre&ises. Aery lar$e ad&inistrative sectors are !urther su%divided into !iner areas, usin$ e.istin$ trail net)ork and other per&anent land&arks to de!ine the&. All ste&s recorded are correspondin$ly nu&%ered ()ith an alu&inu& ta$) )ithin the a!ore-&entioned Areas and su%-areas. 6ence, a tree ta$ %earin$ the serial *+*B=-"*B*" indicated that this %elon$s to tree C "*B )ithin Area *+, Su%-area *B=. The last di$it -*" &eans that the ta$ %elon$s to ste& C" o! a &ulti-ste&&ed tree. A. St%nd o$(o'!t!on %nd 'tru tur" The initial results o! the PNPCSI study sho)ed that the stand co&position )ithin NAP C included #,:*: individual trees and 4,,*+ ste&s. These trees and ste&s %elon$ to a total o! +B: species in 3B $enera and B3 !a&ilies that have %een identi!ied. 0! the +B: species, :3 are indi$enous, )ith only seven (9) are Philippine ende&ics, as sho)n in Ta%le + %elo)D A&on$ the ende&ic species areD 7at&on E Dillenia philippinensis 7a&ato$ E Sympetalandra densiflora Niyo$-niyo$an E Ficus pseudopalma ith re$ard to dia&eter o! trees, the %i$$est recorded dia&eter is +4:.4 c& !or an earpod tree (*+*"=-++"-*, Enterolobium cyclocarpum (2e$u&inosae) and !ire tree (=eloni. re$ia). 0! the native species, a narra, Pterocarpus indicus, *3*B+-34 (2e$u&inosae) has o%tained a &a.i&u& dia&eter o! ,".+ centi&eters.

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Ta%le +. The trees and ste&s !ound )ithin NAP C area.

COMMON NAME Yucca Dao Amugis Mango Guyabano Anonas Atis Indian tree Dita Kalachuchi Yellow bell Octopus tree !alapapaya orfol! "ine African tuli" tree Achuete aobab Ka"o! (saang gubat Papaya Talisay #ycad Katmon Palosapis Kamagong Lumbang ignay San 'rancisco Shanghai eauty #inunga Karmay $ablot Avocado Auri Mangium Alibangbang #aballero +olden shower Kanya "istula Palawan cherry, alitbitan Fire tree )ar"od Dapdap Ka-awate I"il I"il,i"il #ani Siar Kamatsile Pric-ly "arra "arra Rain tree Kamatog $am"alo! anaba 'otton

FAMILY Agavaceae Agavaceae Anacardiaceae Anacardiaceae Anacardiaceae Annonaceae Annonaceae Annonaceae Annonaceae Apocynaceae Apocynaceae Apocynaceae Araliaceae Araliaceae Araucariaceae #igoniaceae #i%aceae ombacaceae #ombacaceae #oraginaceae #aricaceae #ombretaceae #ycadaceae Dilleniaceae Dipterocarpaceae )benaceae )u"horbiaceae &uphorbiaceae )u"horbiaceae &uphorbiaceae &uphorbiaceae )u"horbiaceae )u"horbiaceae Lauraceae Lauraceae *eguminosae *eguminosae Leguminosae *eguminosae *eguminosae Leguminosae *eguminosae *eguminosae Leguminosae Leguminosae *eguminosae *eguminosae Leguminosae Leguminosae Leguminosae *eguminosae Leguminosae *eguminosae *eguminosae *eguminosae Leguminosae Leguminosae *ythraceae Malvaceae

GENUS Dracaena Yucca Dracontomelon Koordersiodendron Mangifera Annona Annona Annona Polyalthia Alstonia Plumeria Thevetia rassaia Polyscias Araucaria $"athodea #i%a Adansonia 'eiba 'armona #arica Terminalia #ycas Dillenia Anisoptera Dios"yros Aleurites Antidesma Antidesma #odiaeum )atropha Macaranga Phyllanthus Litsea Persea Acacia Acacia #auhinia #aesalpinia #assia 'assia #assia #ynometra Deloni% )nterolobium &rythrina +liricidia Intsia *eucaena Millettia Peltophorum Pithecellobium Pterocarpus Pterocarpus $amanea $ym"etalandra (amarindus *agerstroemia Gossy"ium

SPECIES Fragrans Dao Pinnatum Indica Muricata Reticulate Squamosa Longifolia Scholaris Acuminate Peruviana actinophylla "odosa hetero"hylla cam"anulata &rellana Digitata "entandra Retusa Papaya #atappa philippinensis Thuri%era #lancoi moluccana unius s"* (ariegatum integerrima (anarius Acidus Glutinosa americana auriculi%ormis Mangium Pur"urea pulcherrima ,siamea Fistulosa "odosa Ramiflora Regia cyclocar"um (ariegate Sepium #i+uga leucoce"hala Pinnata pterocarpum Dulce indicus %orma echinatus .ndicus

Exotic X X

Indigenous

Endemic

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X $

$aman Densiflora Indica Speciosa s"*

). A*und%n " o+ tr""' %nd' 't"$' ,!t-!n NAPWC %r"% In ter&s o! a%undance or nu&%er o! trees and ste&s encountered durin$ the inventory activities, the &ost a%undant tree species in NAP C is the %i$-lea!ed &aho$any (Swietenia macrophylla) )ith +,*,, ste&s recorded, !ollo)ed %y /cArthurs Pal& (Ptychosperma macarthurii) )ith 3:B ste&s and Indian ru%%er tree ( Ficus elastica) )ith :4B ste&s, as sho)n in Ta%le " %elo). Ta%le ". 2ist o! "* &ost a%undant trees in NAP C Co&&on Na&e Bi$-lea!ed &aho$any Plant Ta.on C C ;ank Indiv. Ste&s
0122 345 465 460 734 770 023 031 083 064 067 044 017 22 81 81 62 67 60 61

Swietenia macrophylla Ptychosperma macarthurii 'icus elastica Pterocarpus indicus +melina arborea Thevetia peruviana Adonidia merrillii !angi%era indica Triplaris cumingiana Samanea saman auhinia purpurea Archontophoeni$ ale$andrae Deloni$ regia (ite$ parvi%lora *eucaena leucocephala Terminalia catappa &nterolobium cyclocarpum *agerstroemia speciosa 'icus septica Pithecellobium dulce