CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Experts have found no Less than 304 species of plants and 142 species of animals, including rare and “threatened” ones, thriving in Mt. Tapulao in Zambales, Central Luzon’s tallest mountain.
This disovery was the result of a nine-month exploration by a team of biologists and biodiversity experts from the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Diliman Science Research Foundation in the virginal mountain.
The result of the study has prompted the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to declare the mountain a “national treasure trove” and warned poacHers and encroachers from despoiling it.
“Of these, the murid rodents Rhycomys tapulao and Apomys brownorum can only be found in Mt. Tapulao, and six other plant species can only be found in Luzon,” DENR regional executive director Maximo Dichoso disclosed.
He also noted that of the 142 animal species studied in Mt. Tapulao, 78 were noted to be endemic to the country while 41 out of the 304 plant species studied were also endemic.
“The UP findings confirmed earlier studies that Mt. Tapulao is a natural treasure trove for Central Luzon in terms of species richness and diversity. As such I call on the public to protect Mt. Tapulao and adjoining forests from threats of poaching and human encroachments,” Dichoso stressed.
The nine-month biodiversity study included various species of trees, vines, lianas, herbs, palms, mammals, amphibians, birds, and reptiles.
The study also established a new distribution record for the insectivorous bat species Myotis rufopictus (Orange-fingered myotis) and Desmalopex leucopterus (Mottled winged flying fox), Dichoso reported.
“M. rufopictus was found in the mountain at 1,820 meters above sea level (masl) and D. leucopterus was found at elevations of 230 masl and 896 masl,” he said.
Dichoso also noted that “seven insectivorous bats were also recorded in the area, three of which are endemic to the Philippines: the yellow-faced horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus virgo), the large-eared horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus philippinensis), and the orange-fingered myotis (Myotis rufopictus).
But while species richness and endemicity is high in Mt. Tapulao, three species of bird categorized as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) were also found in Mt. Tapulao, namely the flame-breasted fruit dove (Ptilinopus marchei),Philippine eagle-owl (Bubo philippensis), and the ashy thrush (Zoothera cinerea), he said.
Mt. Tapulao also harbors 14 plant species found in the DENR list of threatened species, with one timber species, Tristaniopsis decorticata, considered as critically endangered (CR).
