Diversity and primary productivity of phytoplankton in the marine waters of Mts. Palaypalay/ Mataas na Gulod National Park, Ternate-Maragondon, Cavite, Luzon, Philippines / Alma H. Macahia.

Mts. Palaypalay/Mataas na Gulod National Park is a protected 4,000 hectares landscape in Cavite. The study sites comprise the five kilometer stretch towards the Northeastern part namely Caynipa Bay, Caylabne Bay, and Okno Bay. The objectives of the study are to provide baseline information and assess the ecological health status of the marine water of Mts. Palaypalay/Mataas na Gulod National Park using primary production, physiochemical characteristics, and the phytoplankton present. It identifies and classifies the phytoplankton species in the sampling sites, determine relative abundance , importance value, index of dominance, and establishes the temporal and spatial variation of phytoplankton species in the sampling sites, correlated the physiochemical parameters with the phytoplankton species in the sampling sites. Results revealed that the marine water bounding the national park is ecologically favorable for high phytoplankton species diversity to occur since all the physiochemical parameters considered in this study are correlated with the species diversity.