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The lack of information regarding biodiversity status hampers designing and implementing conservation strategies and achieving future targets. Northern Pakistan consists of a unique ecoregion mosaic which supports a myriad of environmental niches for anuran diversity in comparison to the deserts and xeric shrublands throughout the rest of the country. In order to study the niche suitability, species overlap and distribution patterns in Pakistan, we collected observational data for nine anuran species across several distinct ecoregions by surveying 87 randomly selected locations from 2016 to 2018 in Rawalpindi District and Islamabad Capital Territory. Our model showed that the precipitation of the warmest and coldest quarter, distance to rivers and vegetation were the greatest drivers of anuran distribution, expectedly indicating that the presence of humid forests and proximity to waterways greatly influences the habitable range of anurans in Pakistan. Sympatric overlap between species occurred at significantly higher density in tropical and subtropical coniferous forests than in other ecoregion types. We found species such as Minervarya spp., Hoplobatrachus tigerinus and Euphlyctis spp. preferred the lowlands in proximal, central and southern parts of the study area proximal to urban settlements, with little vegetation and higher average temperatures. Duttaphrynus bengalensis and D. stomaticus had scattered distributions throughout the study area with no clear preference for elevation. Sphaerotheca pashchima was patchily distributed in the midwestern extent of the study area as well as the foothills to the north. Microhyla nilphamariensis was widely distributed throughout the study area with a preference for both lowlands and montane terrain. Endemic frogs (Nanorana vicina and Allopaa hazarensis) were observed only in locations with higher elevations, higher density of streams and lower average temperatures as compared to the other seven species sampled. It is recommended to provide legal protection to amphibians of Pakistan, especially endemic species, through revision in the existing wildlife laws. We suggest studying the effectiveness of existing amphibian tunnels and corridors or designing new ones tailored to the needs of our species to prevent their local extinction due to ongoing or proposed urban development which might affect their dispersal and colonization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asian elephants are threatened throughout their range due to habitat loss, fragmentation, and conflict with humans. Limited data on spatial and temporal use of habitats in largely intact forests by elephants in Sumatra is a major hindrance for conservation and land use planning, and consequently human–elephant conflict mitigation. We analysed GPS data from collared elephants to investigate their use of habitat in relation to available land cover and human disturbance in Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia. We applied remote sensing techniques to extract environmental variables to use in state-space Hidden Markov Models and integrated Step Selection Function to analyse foraging strategies and land use selectivity, while using dynamic Brownian Bridge Movement Models and Minimum Convex Polygons to determine used and available habitat features within their home ranges. Our results show that Sumatran elephants in Aceh preferred areas with lower elevation (< 200 m) and slopes (0–10°), with minimal terrain ruggedness, which also happen to be areas selected by humans. Elephants closely adhered to rivers and mountain valleys when utilizing homogenous dense natural forests, and expanded from the rivers in heterogenous forests toward open, resource-dense, land use types. Overall, slope, vegetation, and human disturbance had the largest impact on each of the clans' foraging strategies. Areas closer to human settlements were used more by night and less by day, indicating that human presence and activities influence elephant habitat use and avoidance. Our findings conclude future management decisions should focus on protecting the remaining lowland forests and preventing further urban encroachment in areas with lower elevation and slope, particularly in proximity to rivers which act as corridors between natural habitats, in order to mitigate human-elephant conflict and protect the species from extinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]