:: ¿? DID YOU KNOW ?¿ :: Sibuyan, a small mountainous (to 2,052 m) island surrounded by deep water within the ecoregion, is outstanding in itself. Sibuyan contains six endemic mammals (five strict endemics; Heaney et al. 1998; Heaney and Regalado 1998; Goodman and Ingle 1993) and is considered a Secondary Area by BirdLife International (Stattersfield et al. 1998) because of the existence of three restricted-range birds.These restricted-range birds are also found elsewhere but have no clear affinities. One hundred thirty-one bird species have been recorded on the island, a high number for an isolated island of only 463 km2. Sibuyan still contains about half of its original forest cover (100-150 km2), including some extremely rare (in the Philippines) lowland forest; unfortunately, logging threatens the remainder (Goodman and Ingle 1993; Stattersfield et al. 1998). Sibuyan Island is also a Centre of Plant Diversity (CPD) (Davis et al. 1995), containing beach vegetation, mangroves, lowland rain forest, montane forests, and grasslands and heath forests. There are an estimated 700 vascular plant species on the island, including 54 endemic species. The flora is closely related to that of Luzon. Sibuyan contains valuable timber trees, almaciga (Agathis philippensis) resins, and ornamental plants and has good potential for tourism (Davis et al. 1995).
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 13:15:25 +0000