BUGUEY WETLANDS
Let’s talk about Buguey Wetlands. But first, what is a wetland? A wetland is a land area that is saturated with water, it is either permanently or seasonally, such that it takes on the characteristics of a distinct ecosystem. Primarily, the factor that distinguishes wetlands from other land forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation that is adapted to its unique soil conditions: Wetlands consist primarily of hydric soil, which supports the aquatic plants. Waters that are found in wetlands can be saltwater, freshwater, or brackish. Mostly main wetland types include swamps, marshes, bogs and fens. Sub-types include mangrove, carr, pocosin, and varzea.
Wetlands play a number of roles in the environment, principally water purification, flood control, and shoreline stability. Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal life.
Wetlands are habitats that fall somewhere on the environmental spectrum between land and water. Since wetlands lie at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, they possess a unique mixture of species, conditions, and interactions. As a result, wetlands are among our planet's most diverse and varied habitats pf different species.
Wetlands play a number of roles in the environment, principally water purification, flood control, and shoreline stability. Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal life.
Wetlands are habitats that fall somewhere on the environmental spectrum between land and water. Since wetlands lie at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, they possess a unique mixture of species, conditions, and interactions. As a result, wetlands are among our planet's most diverse and varied habitats pf different species.
In the Philippines there are a lot of considered wetlands, one of which is the Buguey Wetlands.
Buguey Wetlands are on the north coast of Luzon, south shore of the Babuyan Channel and east of the mouth of the Cagayan River, and covers about 80% of Buguey Municipality. Buguey Wetlands are a complex of coastal lagoons, freshwater marshes, brackish and saline marshes, mangrove swamps and intertidal mudflats, with some fish ponds and shrimp ponds and a very large area of rice paddies.
Buguey Wetland's climatic condition is humid tropical climate with an average annual rainfall of about 2,200 mm more or less evenly distributed throughout the year.
The principal vegetation in these wetlands includes Nypa fruticans, mangrove species and Ipomoea reptans.
Buguey Wetlands are on the north coast of Luzon, south shore of the Babuyan Channel and east of the mouth of the Cagayan River, and covers about 80% of Buguey Municipality. Buguey Wetlands are a complex of coastal lagoons, freshwater marshes, brackish and saline marshes, mangrove swamps and intertidal mudflats, with some fish ponds and shrimp ponds and a very large area of rice paddies.
Buguey Wetland's climatic condition is humid tropical climate with an average annual rainfall of about 2,200 mm more or less evenly distributed throughout the year.
The principal vegetation in these wetlands includes Nypa fruticans, mangrove species and Ipomoea reptans.
Plant communities in adjacent areas include Pandanus sp and plantations of coconuts.
The lands in the area are mostly used for Aquaculture and rice cultivation in parts of the wetland, and illegal hunting throughout. Also in these wetlands of Buguey there are some disturbances and threats of which the destruction of mangroves for the creation of shrimp and fish ponds has greatly reduced the extent of the mangroves, and this destruction continues. Waterfowl hunting, although illegal, is widespread, and there is extensive use of pesticides by the rice farmers. Ducks and egrets frequently feed in the rice paddies, and there have been incidents of birds dying from poisoning.
There have been reports that in Buguey Wetlands, there had been an important staging and wintering area for migratory waterfowl, notably ducks and shorebirds. About 3,000-5,000 ducks have been recorded in November, and they are mostly Dendrocygna sp and Anas luzonica. About up to 3,000 other waterfowl have been also observed, the commoner species including Ixobrychus sinensis, I. eurhythmus, I. cinnamomeus, Bubulcus ibis, Egretta garzetta. E. intermedia, E. alba, Gallicrex cinerea and Sterna albifrons were observed and recorded. There were over 940 shorebirds recorded in April-May of 1986 including the others:
| 32 Rostrazula benghalensis | 138 Pluvialis dominica |
| 276 Charadrius dubius | 65 C. mongolus |
| 112 Numenius phaeopus | 70 Xenus cinereus |
| 57 Heteroscelus brevipes | 10 Limnodromus semipalmatus |
Up to the present, Alonzo-Pasicolan and National Water Resources Council are keeping these wetlands in Buguey observed. It is said that these wetlands are important areas for rice and fisheries production. Buguey Wetlands is just one of the many more wetlands found here in the Philippines.
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