Species Richness, Elevational Distribution, and Conservation Status of Ferns and Lycophytes in Mts. Palay-Palay Mataas-na-Gulod Protected Landscape, Luzon Island, the Philippines

Ferns and lycophytes are suitable model taxa for understanding tropical plant dynamics due to their capability to recognize altitudinal distribution in tropical mountains. However, their ecology needs to be better understood in one of the Philippines’ nature reserves and the Cavite Province’s remaining forest resource – the Mts. Palay-Palay Mataas-na-Gulod Protected Landscape (MPPMNGPL). Hence, the species richness, elevational distribution, and conservation status of the ferns and lycophytes in the landscape are described in this paper. Sampling plots were established along the mountain’s elevation using the plot technique method. A total of 52 species of ferns and lycophytes belonging to 15 families and 27 genera were documented. Of these, three species were endemic to the Philippines, and 16 were new records in the landscape. The most abundant fern family is Pteridaceae – followed by Thelypteridaceae, Dryopteridaceae, Lygodiaceae, and Polypodiaceae. Additionally, lycophytes were represented by the families Selaginellaceae and Lycopodiaceae. The hierarchical cluster analysis (Bray-Curtis similarity index = 0.19) identified three elevational zones for ferns and lycophytes – namely Zone 1 for Lygodium-Pteris present at 200–300 meters above sea level (masl), Zone 2 for Bolbitis-Microsorum (300–500 masl), and Zone 3 for Microsorum-Pteris-Tectaria (500 masl up to the peak). Of these zones, Zone 2 was recorded to have the most documented fern species in the landscape. Six species were assessed as threatened on the global and national scale, whereas 26 species were categorized with high and medium conservation priority status on the local-based assessments.