Manila Bay Ecology And Associated Invasive Species

As the location of the oldest and busiest international port in the Philippines, Manila Bay is a prime location to study the ecology and dynamics of marine biological invasion in a tropical high marine biodiversity environment. The bay is historically within the center of marine biodiversity in the Philippines. Rapid urbanization in the last 150 years as a result of the expansion of the City of Manila and its suburbs has changed the estuarine watershed and has resulted in environmental change. This is reflected in eutrophication, sedimentation, pollution and land reclamation that has altered fisheries, coastal oceanography and ecology. These problems are exacerbated by the governance system of the National Capital Region resulting in unplanned urban development. In this environment, most of the invertebrate marine non-indigenous species (MNIS) that are invasive in other tropical estuarine ports are not invasive in Manila Bay. It is hypothesized that monsoon driven periodic hypoxia and other pollution related events prevent invasion. While this is true for most of the MNIS, the tropical Atlantic mussel Mytella charruana was introduced in 2014 and is now invasive in the bay. The biological characteristics of this species are likely to displace the pollution tolerant indigenous and non-indigenous malacofauna. The Supreme Court has taken notice of the environmental condition of the bay and through a 2008 Mandamus, ordered the Executive Department of the Philippines Government to restore the environmental quality of the bay. The effects of the Mandamus in rehabilitating the bay still have to be seen and on this any effective management of any marine biological invasion lies.