00000ctm a22000003a 4500 UP-8027390931313988576 Buklod 20170811155755.0 m |o d | ta 170811s xx d r |||| u| (iLib)UPVIS-00048522264 Gift VML/ess 8.11.17 eng LG 993 2012 B4 H86 Hulleza, Venice Marie B. Mycological survey of a cave in Taklong Island National Marine Reserve (TINMAR), Nueva Valencia, Guimaras. Venice Marie B. Hulleza. 2012. vi, 45 leaves pictures, computer print-out. Special Problem (Undergraduate, Bachelor of Science in Biology) College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo Caves present a rare opportunity and challenge to scientific study due the fact that most are largely hidden from view that make them less attractive to mainstream science. Most studies in caves were limited to mapping of locations only. The cave habitat is unique considering that there is no natural light as well as the presence of other physical difficulties. The study of cave microbiology or geomicrobiology is still at its infancy and is still evolving. While earlier studies looked into bacteria, the fungi are often ignored. It is rather unfortunate that Philippines is behind in its scientific discoveries of this unique ecosystem considering that caves are abundant in this country. Thus, this study was carried to isolate and identify fungi within a cave in Taklong Island, Taklong Island National Marine Reserve, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras, Philippines to provide additional information on their diversity in this part of the world. Specifically, it aimed to describe soil fungal population in terms of overall species composition, frequency of occurrence, Shannon-Wiener Index od Diversity and Evenness as well as to determine the fungal load in terms of colony forming units per gram of soil. Standard soil dilution and fungal isolation was done on soil samples collected from the site. Results showed a total of 26 species collected from 154 isolates represented mostly by mitosporic fungi, sterile fungi and a number of unrecognized species. These include the genera of Acremonium, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Humicola, Penicillium, Phialophora, Trichoderma. Among these, Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium were well represented by several morphotypes. Shannon Index of Diversity, H' was = 4.64 and the Shannon Evenness Index, J' =1. It is interesting to note that with a high species diversity, the evenness was high and it might imply that these species are all equally sharing the available resources with no species dominating the assemblage. Fungal load was relatively low at 3.15 x 10 raised to the 3rd power CFU/g only. This is the first documented reported on the occurrence of fungi in Philippine caves and has shown that diversity is high. Such high diversity represent potential opportunity for exploration on their uses but at the same time present the more important aspect in taking steps to limit human contamination and conserving the sensitive microbial habitats of caves for the preservation of its biodiversity. Caves TINMAR Nueva Valencia, Guimaras. Sadaba, Resurreccion Adviser. UPVIS UPV-ML LG 993 2012 B4 H86 Thesis