This study was conducted to see whether herpetofaunal assemblage differed amongst hiking trails, undisturbed forest and urban areas within the Margalla Hills National Park, Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan. Circular plot area-constrained searches (45 plots in each habitat, each plot with an area of 25 m2) were used from March 2018 to July 2019. We recorded seven amphibian species, nine lizard species and six snake species. The species richness of amphibians and lizards was the same in the studied strata, while the detection and encounter rate of snakes was lower in the undisturbed forest and urban areas. The encounter rate of amphibians differed significantly between urban areas and hiking trails/undisturbed forest. The encounter rate and population density of lizards differed significantly between undisturbed forest and urban areas. The most frequently encountered amphibian species along the hiking trail and urban areas was Duttaphrynus stomaticus, with Hoplobatrachus tigerinus in undisturbed forest. The most common and frequently encountered lizard species along the hiking trail and urban areas was Hemidactylus brookii, while the Ophisops jerdonii was the most frequently seen in undisturbed forest. The most common and frequently encountered snake species along the hiking trail and undisturbed forest was the Indotyphlops braminus, while Ptyas mucosa was the most common in urban areas. The subsequent bio-assessment, based on herpetofauna, of the Park revealed good to excellent biotic integrity The Park faces threats including livestock grazing, alien invasive vegetation and human disturbance due to settlements, restaurants and tourism-related activities. While several of these threats have been mitigated since the establishment of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, the Park still requires improved management, especially regarding regulating tourism.
In the context of the Bonn Challenge, Pakistan started Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) in 2014. This study assessed growth performance and the survival rate of young plantations and developed linear regression models by using Landsat-8 data. The results showed that fast-growing species such as Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Robinia pseudoacacia have shown a good growth rate as compared to Pinus roxburghii and Cedrus deodara. Landsat-8 vegetation indices include Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI), Difference Vegetation Index (DVI), and Green Normalized Vegetation Index (GNDVI), which were correlated with volume (m3). RVI has the highest correlation with R2 value of 0.88 followed by NDVI, SAVI, and GDVI with R2 value of 0.83. Stepwise linear regression (SLR) showed that MASVI and SAVI have a strong significant relationship with volume compared to the rest of the indices. The simple linear regression model of RVI and volume has the lowest RMSE (1.19 m3/ha) and is considered the best for plantation mapping. The temporal assessment of afforestation (2013-2018) by Landsat-8 images showed that the plantation was successful in the sampled sites. The RVI differencing and threshold measured area under vegetation was 7,309.7 ha in 2013 and was increased to 9,224.9 ha in 2018. The study suggested that Landsat-8 data have the potential for monitoring FLR activities and can be enhanced further when combined with other datasets.
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