Tree species inventory and their economic uses in Mt. Agad Agad, Iligan city, Philippines

Abstract

Iligan City has an estimated 30,000 ha of forest cover that is still declining up to this day. Trees are an important part of the vegetation that play a fundamental role in stability and provide services in the forest ecosystem and resources for human consumption. Tree species diversity in Mt. Agad-Agad, Iligan City has not been studied, hence an inventory of trees was conducted to assess their conservation and ecological status including their economic uses. A series of transect walks along the trails were employed. Voucher specimens were collected, processed, and identified. Results revealed a total of 127 species of trees distributed into 40 families and 97 genera. The most represented families were Moraceae with 15 species, Arecaceae and Fabaceae with 9 species each, Euphorbiaceae with 8 species, Burseraceae with 7 species, Rubiaceae and Rutaceae with 6 species each and Anacardiaceae, Meliaceae and Myrtaceae with 5 species each. Of these tree species, 18 are Philippine endemics, 2 Mindanao endemics, 4 (IUCN, 2021-3) and 2 (DENR, 2017-11) endangered, 2 (IUCN, 2021-3) and 5 (DENR, 2017-11) vulnerable, 79 (IUCN, 2021-3) and 6 (DENR, 2017-11) least concern, 5 (DENR, 2017-11) other threatened species, and 5 (IUCN, 2021-3) and 1 (DENR, 2017-11) near threatened. Most of the trees were economically important as food, medicine, timber, handicrafts, building materials and ornamentals. Numerous anthropogenic threats included introduction of non-native tree species for forest rehabilitation, conversion of forest to agricultural land and improper garbage disposal. Results of this study will provide information as bases in the ecotourism program and proposal for Mt. Agad-Agad as Local Conservation Area (LCA) and future directions and implication for restoration and conservation of the remaining forest