Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 July 2020 | 12(10): 16368–16372
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5486.12.10.16368-16372
#5486 | Received 22 October 2019 | Finally
accepted 23 June 2020
New distribution record of the
endemic and critically endangered Giant Staghorn Fern Platycerium
grande (Fee) Kunze (Polypodiaceae)
in central Mindanao
Cherie Cano-Mangaoang
1 & Charissa Joy Arroyo Gumban 2
1 Department of Biological
Sciences, University of Southern Mindanao, Kabacan, Cotabato, Philippines.
2 Sultan Kudarat
State University, Kalamansig Campus, Sultan Kudarat, Philippines.
1 ccmangaoang@usm.edu.ph
(corresponding author), 2 gumbancharissajoy@gmail.com
Editor: Anonymity
requested. Date of publication:
26 July 2020 (online & print)
Citation: Mangaoang,
C.C. & C.J.A. Gumban (2020). New distribution record of the
endemic and critically endangered Giant Staghorn Fern Platycerium
grande (Fee) Kunze (Polypodiaceae)
in Central Mindanao. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(10): 16368–16372. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5486.12.10.16368-16372
Copyright: © Mangaoang
& Gumban 2020. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: The author
declares no competing interests. The views expressed are those of
the author.
Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank Krizler C. Tanalgo and the
anonymous reviewers for their insightful and significant comments that helped
in the improvement of the final manuscript.
Abstract: Platycerium grande (Fee) Kunze is an endemic,
Critically Endangered species of fern in the Philippines. The known
distribution of this species remains limited at present and its population is
threatened by various anthropogenic threats especially for ornamental
collection. In our recent survey, we found
high abundance of this species in Central Mindanao, southern Philippines. It can be distinguished from other species
belonging to the genus Platycerium through its
frond’s vegetative leaf which is symmetrical with two equally long main
lobe. Based on literatures, the known
distribution range extend from Zambaonga, Lanao, and
Davao (Mt. Apo); and our recent records extends the known distribution of this
species in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat
and South Upi, Maguindanao suggesting this species
may still be around in other areas within the known range, however, the species
may remain narrowly distributed as multiple threats to this species continue to
persist.
Keywords: Conservation, fern, Maguindanao,
phorophyte, Sultan Kudarat.
Platycerium Desv
is a distinct genus under Polypodiaceae, and is
distinguished by the morphological structure of its frond. The species under this genus is
distinguishable by its frond dimorphism, formation of a basket of base fronds
and the vegetative frond that is divided dichotomously (Hennipman
& Roos 1998). This taxa mainly grow in a more or less open canopy and
are among the most frequent vascular plant epiphytes in subtropical to tropical
lowland forests with 15 to 18 known species.
There are two known species in the Philippines, viz.: Platycerium coronarium
(König ex Müller) Desv and Platycerium
grande (Fèe) Kunze
(Copeland 1958; Hennipman & Roos 1998). The previously mentioned species can be
identified from the latter by its foliage frond which is asymmetrical and its
soral patch that completely covers the fertile lobe. Of these two species, P. grande is
endemic to the Philippines (Amoroso & Amoroso 2003) and is closely related
to P. holttumii distributed in Indochina (Kreier & Schneider 2006).
Platycerium grande also known as the Giant Staghorn
Fern was recorded in Mindanao specifically in Zamboanga, Lanao, and Davao (Mt.
Apo), however, Copeland’s (1958) report from Mt. Cristobal in Luzon could be
possibly in error (Pelser et al. 2019). Hennipman et al.
(1979) stated that the specimen used to complete the description of this
species was taken from the wild of Davao and traced in Cebu then brought to
Leiden and Kew.
Its unique and peculiar structure
makes this species valuable as an ornamental and attractive plant for
collectors and poachers (Darnaedi & Praptosuwiryo 2003).
As a matter of fact, P. grande and
other species in the genus are highly-prized ornamental species. Consequently, coupled with habitat changes in
its native range, continuous over exploitation, and its poor propagation
success (Amoroso & Amoroso 2003) this species is currently assessed
as critically endangered (Fernando et al. 2008). In this paper, we report the new distribution
records of P. grande in localities in Mindanao
Island, Philippines.
Methods
The study was conducted in the
two provinces of Central Mindanao: Sultan Kudarat and
Maguindanao, southern Philippines. The
province of Sultan Kudarat is situated in the Soccsksargen region in the southwestern part of
Mindanao. Kalamansig
is one of its municipalities which is situated at approximately 6.5540N,
124.0520E. On the other
hand, area in Maguindanao where P. grande
exist is the municipality of South Upi which lies at
about 7.0170N, 124.1760E (Fig. 1).
Purposive sampling was done. Survey was conducted from the months of April
2018–April 2019 in various areas of Kalamansig and
South Upi.
Three barangays in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat were identified – Barangays Paril,
Limulan and Poblacion and
two in South Upi, Maguindanao – Barangays Kuya and Poblacion. The actual number of individuals were counted
and recorded. To confirm the identity of
the species, morphological characteristics of the species were examined such
the base and vegetative fronds and the soral patch. These are the morphological characteristics
by which the two species of Platycerium in the
Philippines can be distinguished. Identification is further supported by the
work of Copeland (1958), Hovenkamp et al. (1998) and
Philippine plant list website.
Furthermore, a map was generated using QGIS application.
Results and
Discussion
Platycerium grande
was found
thriving along national road for both areas in Kalamansig,
Sultan Kudarat and South Upi,
Maguindanao, however, individuals of this species in Kalamansig,
Sultan Kudarat were seen in an agricultural area
planted with coconut. The species was
identified based on its morphological characterization in which the lower part
of the base frond is strongly wavy on the margin (sinouse
margin), upper part spreading and forked equally, and foliage fronds are symmetrical,
with two equally long main lobes, each with a wide, horizontal soral patch and
two lateral pendulous forked lobes.
Soral patch of P. grande is semicircular and occupies the undersurface
of the foliage fronds (Image 1). These
are the diagnostic characteristics to identify the species as Platycerium grande
(Copeland 1958; Hennipman & Roos 1998; Aspiras 2010). The
species was found to be thriving in an open area at an elevation of 6.69–662.71
m and observed to be commonly attached on coconut and huge trees along national
roads. The wild population of Platycerium grande is
presently scarcely known. It can,
however, be seen in home gardens or botanical gardens. But recently it was found out to be
abundantly thriving in areas of Sultan Kudarat and
Maguindanao.
A total of 212 individuals were
recorded from the three barangays of Kalamansig,
Sultan Kudarat and 30 individuals from South Upi, Maguindanao (Table 1).
Coconut served as the phorophyte
of most recorded individuals of P. grande in Kalamansig, however, many individuals were noticed to be
thriving on an individual tree of Albizia saman. This
might be due to fact that areas where
the species was seen is an agricultural landscape which is almost planted with
coconut. Its point of attachment on a
coconut tree starts from 2m from the ground up to the point almost reaching the
top of the tree where the fruit are located.
It was also documented that individuals growing on trees coexist with a Drynaria sp.
It was previously mentioned that
most individuals recorded were on coconut trees, however, fewer in number
compared with those on huge trees (Image 2).
P. grande attached on coconut ranges
from 1–5 individuals wherein huge trees harbors up to 30 individuals per
tree. This might be due to the absence
of branches on coconut trees which gives mechanical support to this plant being
an epiphyte.
Result of this study will help to
substantiate the distribution of Platycerium
grande in this part of the country given that
very little literature is available on its distribution in the Philippines (Pelser et al. 2019).
It is presumed that more individuals can be found in the two areas and
neighboring places if comprehensive surveys are conducted. Moreover, findings of this study will also be
of use in reassessing its status and in the implementation of appropriate
conservation strategies. Furthermore,
discovering new locations of P. grande is an
avenue for more in-depth studies of this endemic and critically endangered
species of fern.
Table 1. The number of
individuals of P. grande in the two sites.
Location of P. grande |
Latitude (N) |
Longitude (E) |
Number of Individuals |
Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat |
|
|
|
Brgy. Paril |
124.033 |
6.567 |
96 |
Brgy. Limulan |
124.083 |
6.550 |
76 |
Brgy. Poblacion |
124.050 |
6.550 |
40 |
South Upi, Maguindanao |
|
|
|
Brgy. Kuya |
124.133 |
6.817 |
3 |
Brgy. Poblacion |
124.133 |
6.850 |
27 |
For
figure & images - - click here
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