Due to threats of agricultural expansion and urbanization, riparian areas of rivers are on the brink of deterioration impacting their ecological functions such as the attenuation of flood disasters. In the urbanizing cities and municipalities of El Salvador, Gingoog and… More

Due to threats of agricultural expansion and urbanization, riparian areas of rivers are on the brink of deterioration impacting their ecological functions such as the attenuation of flood disasters. In the urbanizing cities and municipalities of El Salvador, Gingoog and Jasaan in Misamis Oriental in southern Philippines, rivers are considered critical due to its high risk to flooding occurrence. In order to implement appropriate river management practices in sustaining its ecological services, understanding the rivers’ riparian status is necessary. Hence, this study was conducted to evaluate the current status of Molugan, Solana and Odiongan rivers riparian condition. Using a check list as a guide, abiotic and biotic components of the upstream, midstream and downstream sites of the rivers were rated and evaluated. Other factors such as land use and land cover pattern, population density, stream order and slope were also taken to account in the assessment. Results showed that all rivers are still in the sub-optimal conditions implied with minimal disturbance and deterioration. However of the three rivers, Odiongan was with the least ideal general riparian habitat condition which may be attributed to the river’s larger size and accessibility to disturbance. Regardless of the good results, conscious regulation for the expansion of agricultural cultivation especially in the upstream areas of the watersheds is still recommended. In addition, appropriate land use zoning must be implemented giving emphasis on the establishment of appropriate riparian vegetation buffer widths and integrating natural conservation strategies. Less

Mount Apo Natural Park (MANP) is an important forest reserve in most part of Region XI and XII because of its watershed importance. However, the MANP may also threatened by habitat modification that may alter most of its water resource.… More

Mount Apo Natural Park (MANP) is an important forest reserve in most part of Region XI and XII because of its watershed importance. However, the MANP may also threatened by habitat modification that may alter most of its water resource. Thus, this study was conducted to assess the abundance of freshwater fish and analyze the physico-chemical properties like water temperature, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved solids (TDS), electric conductivity (EC), oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) of the two major rivers of MANP. A total of six freshwater fishes consisting of four native and two introduced species were collected and identified in the two sampling stations. The native Barbodes binotatus (Valenciennes 1842) was found to be the most abundant in all the years the survey was conducted. The data on physico-chemical properties showed fluctuations in all year (2012-13 and 2015). High turbidity rate in Marbel River and high water temperature recorded in upper station of Matingao River could have influenced the collection and abundance of freshwater fishes. Shannon diversity index in Marbel River and Matingao River are very low with values of 0.69 (2012-2013); 0.68 (2015) and 0.70 (2012-2013); 0.70 (2015) for the two rivers, respectively. This could be attributed to anthropogenic activities, characteristics and physico-chemical properties of the river. Less

The radiation reaching the earth’s surface can be represented in a number of different ways and one of the ways is through GHI determination. This study determined the Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) in the Province of Bukidnon. GHI is the… More

The radiation reaching the earth’s surface can be represented in a number of different ways and one of the ways is through GHI determination. This study determined the Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) in the Province of Bukidnon. GHI is the maximum concurrency of solar radiation at specific time and location on the surface of the earth. It was determined monthly from January to December 2014 using the R.sun model that runs in an open source Grass Geographical Information System (GIS) software which can compute direct (beam), diffuse and reflected solar irradiation raster maps for a given day, latitude, surface and atmospheric conditions. Inputs such as topography, location, Linke Turbidity and ground albedo, slope and aspect and sun’s declination were also taken into account in the calculation. The results suggest that the values of GHI in a clear sky condition differ by almost 90% greater than the real sky condition. The highest GHI values were recorded in the month of January and May for clear and real sky, respectively. Thus, the output of this study recognized and may utilize further to assess the solar energy potential of the Province in terms of GHIs. Less

Biomass resources from forests and agriculture residues are underutilized and lost mostly in the provinces in Mindanao and other less developed areas in the country. This article focuses on the estimation of biomass available and energy potential of corn residue… More

Biomass resources from forests and agriculture residues are underutilized and lost mostly in the provinces in Mindanao and other less developed areas in the country. This article focuses on the estimation of biomass available and energy potential of corn residue in Bukidnon. The study was carried out using survey questionnaires and government agriculture reports to investigate the potential biomass resources and the existing domestic and commercial uses of biomass in the province. Integration and analysis was done using ArcGIS platform and in mapping out geographic distribution and concentration of biomass resources. It is established that the annual biomass theoretical potential for Bukidnon is about 502,343.38 metric tonnes, which corresponds to an annual energy production potential of 2,252,016,879.08 MJ. Concentration of biomass theoretical potential is highest in District 2 and District 3 and consequently the energy potential of 144,220,522.03 kWH and 298,793,184.33 kWh, respectively. The outcomes of the present study indicate that for studies to develop site suitability analysis for power plant development may need to consider including other leading agronomic crops in the province. Less

Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) processed through the combined application of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies were the most critical datasets to the success of surface hydrologic modelling applications. This study aims to extract the hydrologic features… More

Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) processed through the combined application of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies were the most critical datasets to the success of surface hydrologic modelling applications. This study aims to extract the hydrologic features like drainage line, inland wetlands and irrigations of Cabulig watershed using available LiDAR datasets. WhiteboxGAT and QuantumGIS were used to extract wetlands and irrigation while ArcGIS software was used for streams. The extracted features were validated using ancillary maps and google earth while features that are not clear were assigned as Point of interest (POI) and were subjected for ground validation. Aside from POI, random sampling tool was used to generate points subject for field validation. The results showed that the extracted features havehigher average accuracy in comparison to the data obtained from the field regardless of specific type of hydrologic features. The extracted streams network using ArcGIS showed the highest accuracy while the extracted wetland features using the combined applications of WhiteboxGAT and QuantumGIS showed relatively lower accuracy. Therefore, this study was able to extract the hydrologic features of Cabulig watershed using LiDAR-derived DTMs with higher levels of accuracy compared to lower resolution DEMs. Less

Siltation at Pulangui Reservoir in Maramag, Bukidnon is a big problem for the hydroelectric power plant. This study explores the potential of Pulangui alluvial sediments from five different locations for compressed stabilized earth block (CSEB) production based on the soil… More

Siltation at Pulangui Reservoir in Maramag, Bukidnon is a big problem for the hydroelectric power plant. This study explores the potential of Pulangui alluvial sediments from five different locations for compressed stabilized earth block (CSEB) production based on the soil consistency and textural properties of sediments and compressive strength of the blocks. The effect of coal fly ash as partial replacement to ordinary portland cement as binder was also examined. The results showed that the soil consistency and textural properties of alluvial sediments failed to pass the suitability criteria for CSEB. Additional sand was added in 1:2 ratio (soil to sand). The replacement of cement with coal fly ash tends to increase its compressive strength up to 20% replacement of cement. The highest compressive strength was observed from the alluvial soils of Panadtalan with 4.32 a . CSEB is viewed to have certain potentials that have the comparative advantage over other materials like hollow blocks but needs a promotional campaign to encourage its usage. The comparative cost analysis revealed that the CSEB with coal fly ash is only 4.30% cheaper compared to the conventional method. Overall, the alluvial deposits of Pulangui reservoir and coal fly ash could be utilized for CSEB production. Less