Background:The COVID-19 pandemic has devastatingly affected the entire world and destroyed the equilibrium of every sphere of life. Like other groups of people, medical students of Nepal have been facing the conditions of lockdown and social isolation that have arisen because of the pandemic. Objective: We aimed to see the relationship of perceived isolation and resilience with self-rated mental health among undergraduate medical students in Nepal. Materials and methods:A web-based online survey was carried out in July 2020 using a semi-structured questionnaire in Google form. Data analysis was performed in SPSS vs 20. Ordered logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the effects of perceived isolation, resilience and background characteristics on self-rated mental health. Results: Out of 515 participants, 44.9% were male.31.4% reported having fair/poor mental health status and 21.9% reported feeling stressed often due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An increment of 1SD in perceived isolation is associated with about a 5% reduction in the odds of having better mental health (exp (−0.048) = 0.95; p=0.026). Similarly, an increment of 1SD in resilience is associated with about 13% lower odds of having better mental health (exp (−0.149) = 0.862 ; p<0.001). Conclusion:This study is an early step towards the assessment of perceived isolation and mental health among undergraduate medical students amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal. There is a need to conduct regular counselling sessions and strengthen the coping skills of medical students duringthe pandemic.

Wetlands are among the highly threatened ecosystems due to anthropogenic activities. The Ramaroshan Wetland Complex (RWC) of Achham District, Nepal is one of the high-altitude wetlands facing human induced degradation and loss. Herpetofauna are key bio-indicators of environmental health and habitat quality and are useful to assess habitat conditions of such threatened ecosystems. This study quantified the land use and land cover (LULC) change in the RWC and documented the diversity and distribution pattern of herpetofauna. The LULC in the area (13.94 Km2) was analyzed for 1989, 2000, 2010 and 2021 by supervised classification of remote sensing images. Surveys were conducted along 25 transects, each of 200 m in length and environmental variables were recorded for every observation of herpetofauna. The LULC analysis revealed an overall loss of 16% of the total water body between 1989 (0.25 Km2) and 2021 (0.21 Km2). Eleven species of herpetofauna (five amphibians and six reptiles) within five families and two orders (i.e., Anura and Squamata), were recorded with low diversity (H’ = 1.88312) and evenness (E = 0.3642) indices. The herpetofauna had a hump-shaped distribution along the elevation gradient with the highest richness and abundance at 2300 m asl. Amphibian abundance decreased with increasing distance to nearest water sources, whereas reptile abundance increased. Amphibians were more abundant in agricultural field and marsh land, whereas reptile abundance was higher around human settlements. Results indicate that the wetland area in the RWC is declining at an alarming rate and, in turn, might account for the low diversity and abundance of the herpetofauna.

Abstract. Sunar CB, Pandey N, Chand B, Upadhyaya LP, Thapa B, Pant RR, Khanal L. 2022. Effect of water physicochemistry on amphibian abundance in Sub-tropical Kupinde Lake of the Nepal Himalaya. Intl J Bonorowo Wetlands 12: 92-99. Amphibians are the key bioindicators of ecosystem health. Their diversity and abundance are affected by the physicochemical factors of the environment. Wetland ecosystems of the Himalaya are under the threat of human activities and current climate change. However, hydrochemical status and faunal diversity are poorly documented in the wetlands of western Nepal. This study characterized the physicochemical parameters of water in Kupinde Lake in the Salyan District of Karnali Province, Nepal, and established the association between amphibian abundance and those parameters. A total of 24 samples of surface water were collected at the lake's edge during October 2021, and 18 physical and chemical parameters were analyzed. Visual encounter surveys were conducted at each water sampling site to count amphibians within a circle of two meters in diameter. The lake water was slightly alkaline (mean pH = 8.16±0.29), and the major dominating cation and anion were Ca2+ and HCO3-, respectively. Amphibian abundance was positively correlated with pH, HCO3-, and NH4+ and negatively correlated with EC, TDS, CO2, Cl-, and Na+. The polynomial regression analysis revealed amphibian abundance has a consistent positive association with water pH (r2 = 0.497, p < 0.05) and unimodal relation with the temperature (r2 = 0.188, p < 0.05). Low amphibian diversity and dominance of a single amphibian species, the Indian skipper frog (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis Schneider, 1799), indicate poor ecosystem health of the lake. The findings of this study provide baseline information for monitoring and managing the Kupinde Lake.

Hydrochemical assessment of the freshwater lakes provides important insights into the sources of dissolved ions, geochemical processes, and anthropogenic activities taking place in the environment. This study focuses on the assessment of hydrochemistry and water quality of Kupinde Lake, Karnali Province, Nepal. Surface water samples were collected from 24 different locations of the lake in October 2021 and analyzed for 18 different physico-chemical parameters. The pH, temperature, electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids were measured on-site, and concentration of major ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, NH4+, HCO3-, Cl-, SO42-, PO43-, NO3-), including hardness and free CO2 were measured in the laboratory. The results revealed that lake water was alkaline with abundance of the major ions in the following order: Ca2+ > Mg2+ > Na+> K+ > NH4+ and HCO3- > Cl- > SO42- > PO43- > NO3- for the cations and anions, respectively. The lake water was dominated by Ca-HCO3, indicating calcium carbonate dominated lithology in the area. Gibb’s plot and Piper diagram illustrated rock weathering as the most dominant process in controlling the hydrochemistry of the lake basin. The suitability of water for drinking and irrigation was determined using geochemical indices and WHO standards. The results indicated that the Kupinde Lake water could be used for drinking and irrigation purposes in terms of measured hydrochemical variables.