Community Structure of Phytoplankton in Bolinao Channel, Pangasinan, The Philippines

A field study had been conducted along the Bolinao channel. In this study, field samples were taken from 10 different stations from Bolinao area by using Niskin sampler. The samples were concentrated by sieving through the plankton net and preserved using acidic lugol solution. Physical parameter: temperature, pH, salinity were measured for further analysis. Phytoplankton enumerations to genus level were performed under research microscope. There were 37 taxa of phytoplankton discovered in Bolinao channel. Clustering analysis was performed to compare the phytoplankton community structure for each of the stations. There were three (3) phytoplankton communities found along the Bolinao channel. The analysis of the principal component analysis (PCA) showed that phytoplankton communities were distinct by physical parameter (temperature) and geographical parameter (depth). Likewise, the results showed that centric diatom preferred lower temperature, deeper sea level, and smaller channel. Pennate diatom preferred higher temperature water, shallow sea level and also wider channel. The distribution of the dinoflagellates remained unresolved by physical parameter. However, the distribution of the dinoflagellates had been explained by comparing to the cyst bed study by Baula. The stations showed with higher density of the dinoflagellates matched the exact location of cyst bed in previous study. Interestingly, the high density of different dinoflagellate was found in station 8. Further, analysis should be taken to verify station 8. Lonawarta, Vol. XXI, No. 1. Hal. 36-42