Mt Pangasugan

Mt Pangasugan is a mountain in the Province of Leyte in the Philippines. It is approximately 1,150 meters (3,772 ft.) [http://www.geocities.com/siba_ph/PhilPeaksVis.html] [http://saklang.tripod.com/images/pangasugan/pangasugan7.jpg] tall, and located to the north of the town of Baybay City. The mountain is densely vegetated, very steep, and home to a remarkable number of plant and animal species. It has been called "the last forest frontier in Eastern Visayas." Situated in the virgin rain forest mountain, is Mt. Pangasugan [http://thumb4.webshots.net/t/58/58/1/75/44/2481175440083544064OtmnxC_th.jpg] Ecopark. [ [http://hoparound.net/HopAround/public/tourist/poi_level3_view.page?level3Id=375 hoparound.net, Mt. Pangasugan Ecopark (Baybay, Leyte, Visayas)] ]

Ecological diversity

A study by Visayas State University (VSU) in Baybay City, Leyte [ [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=93057 Abs-Cbn Interactive, Leyte mountain harbors endangered species in world list] ] found many animal species listed by the World Conservation Union in the Red List of Threatened Animals (IUCN Red List), including the Philippine tarsier, Philippine flying fox, Fischer’s pygmy fruit bat. New records of the microbat (Hypposideros obscurus), with a length of 5.5 centimeters and body weight of 10 grams, a type of skink (Tropidophorus grayh), and two new species of the fish Goblidae (Stiphodon olivaceous and Stiphodon surrufus) were also found by the VSU survey.

VSU’s Natural History Museum collected 43,000 arthropod specimens from 377 families and 500 genera on Mt Pangasugan. New speies of orchid, Dendrobium (milaniae Fessel), Lueckel, and tiger bettle (Thopeutica milaniae), were named in honor of incumbent VSU president Dr. Paciencia Po-Milan, a renowned ecologist.

Other endemic species include the eagle-owl, Philippine hawk-eagle, Rufous Lord kingfisher, Philippine leafbird and miniature tit-babbler and flying lemur.

The Federal Republic of Germany (through the ViSCA-GTZ Applied Tropical EcologyProgranl, ViSCA, Baybay, Leyte, Philippines International) funded the VSU study to collect, identify, describe and document the existing species of aroids (Araceae) and orchids in Mt. Pangasugan. 25 species of aroids representing 12 genera were documented atelevations of up to 350 m ASL. Classified as erect ground dwellers or climbers, the most dominant aroid belongto Pothos and Epipremnum. The orchid species represent 16 genera, with the most dominant belonging to Phalaenopsis. [ [http://www.aseanbiotechnology.info/Abstract/23001802.pdf aseanbiotechnology.info, Aroids and Orchids in Mt. Pangasugan, Leyte, Philippines, Misael T. Diloutado. Jr.. Elizabeth D. Briones and Romina D. Dialimas] ]

The Herpetofauna (herps) of Anibong, Jordan, Mt. Pangasugan Range, Leyte is a habitat to endemic species, which is so diverse and slightly distributed. The Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology identified 17 herpetofaunal species belonging to 6 families (Ranidae, Rhacophoridae, Agamidae, Scincidae, Colubridae, Viperidae), of which eight (47%) are endemics (Endemism). These endemic species include Limnonectes magnus, Platymantis corrugatus, Platymantis dorsalis, Brachymeles samarensis, Draco lineatus, Sphenomorphus jagori, Rhabdophis lineate and Trimeresurus flavomaculatus. Limnonectes magnus is already in the near-threatened category. [ [http://pssn.bahaykuboresearch.net/index.php?module=article&view=177 pssn.bahaykuboresearch.net, The Herpetofauna of Anibong] ]

References

External sources

Milan, et al. 1993. "Anthropod Abundance and Diversity in Ecosystems of Mt. Pangasugan, Baybay Leyte with Special Reference to the Coleoptera and Hymenoptera Fauna"PLITS 1995/13(3)

Lawrence R. Heaney et al. 1989. "Elevational Zonation of Mammals in the Central Philippines".Journal of Tropical Ecology

*Langenberger, G. & Belonias, B. (submitted): The status of floristic analysis of Mt. Pangasugan, Leyte, Philippines - a conservation priorityarea classified as "extremely high critical". (submitted for publication in the ‘Flora Malesiana Symposium Proceedings’ (Los Baños,Philippines, 2004)

*Langenberger, G. (2000): Forest Vegetation Studies on the foothills of Mt. Pangasugan, Leyte, The Philippines. TÖB-Publication F-II/10e.German agency for technical cooperation (GTZ) GmbH, P.O. Box 5180, 65726 Eschborn, Germany. ISBN 3-933984-67-X

*http://www.tropentag.de/2005/abstracts/full/587.pdf Ethnobotanical Survey among Farmers in Leyte, Philippines, and Comparison withIndigenous Filipino Plant Lore