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Lake Taal is one of the most significant lake ecosystems in tropical East Asia. In 2011, a review paper consolidated all known biodiversity and limno-ecological studies conducted in Lake Taal from the beginning of the 20th century all the way to the late 2000s. It highlighted that insufficient funding, inadequate long-term monitoring data, and the publication culture of that time impeded having a comprehensive understanding of the lake. Since then, much research work has been done in Lake Taal, especially during the past decade. This review paper provides an analysis and summary of the research work conducted in Lake Taal over the past 10 years. The recent decade has seen a steady increase in scientific interest in Lake Taal made evident by more scientists and institutions working on topics involving the lake. Research grants, collaborations, and publications have also significantly increased during the past 10 years. This has led to an improved understanding of the lake's biodiversity, ecology, and impacts of intensive aquaculture and the introduction of non-native species. Taken together, this paper presents a better understanding of Lake Taal, which can be utilized for the design and improvement of conservation, preservation, and management programs for this multi-use freshwater system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biological invasions caused by the introductions of non-native species (NNS) into their nonnative ecosystems have long been a global environmental concern. In the Philippines large-scale importation of non-native freshwater fish species for the aquarium and aquaculture industry have been documented as early as 1940s. However, little invasiveness assessment has been done in the past, which resulted to the invasion of some of these exotic species. Thus, in this paper, 25 NNS (Order: Siluriformes) were assessed using the Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit (AS-ISK) to determine their potential for becoming invasive in the chosen risk assessment (RA) area, as well as their ecological and socioeconomic potential impacts on the Philippines. Based on the comprehensive ROC Curve, with the use of the Youden-J index, overall threshold values of ≥ 30 for basic risk assessment (BRA) and ≥ 50 for BRA + climate change assessment (CCA) were established to categorize the potential invasiveness of each species as low-, medium-, or high-risk. According to BRA, 11 (44%) NNS were screened as highly invasive, 13 (52%) with medium risk, and one (4%) with low risk. For BRA + CCA, seven (28%) NNS were categorized as highly invasive, 15 (60%) with medium risk, and three (12%) with low risk. These findings highlight the need for more RAs of the non-native fish species that enter the country through the ornamental industry, as well as improved public educational campaigns and comprehensive regulatory and management policies to prevent their future invasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]