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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]

Managing municipal solid waste (MSW) is indispensable for public health and quality living standards in urban and rural environments. Suitable landfill site selection (LSS) requires the consideration of many diverse criteria. This study uses various environmental, social and economic criteria in a sophisticated multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) within the geographical information system (GIS) and aims to provide a scientific basis for the identification of suitable landfill sites which can efficiently be used for MSW in one of the most urbanized cities (Peshawar district) in Pakistan. The methodology involves pairwise comparisons of the selected and ranked criteria using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). A weighted linear combination (WLC) was applied to generate the most suitable landfill site for MSW disposal within the study area. The results show that approximately 11.4% (14,485.15 ha) and 16.6% (21,211.95 ha) of the total study area are either very highly suitable or highly suitable, 20.8% (26,525.56 ha) area is unsuitable and the remaining areas are either low (27.3%; 34,834.84 ha) or moderately suitable (23.8%; 30,356.84 ha) for the construction of landfill sites. It is recommended that using the proposed landfill sites would have the least consequences of public health risks and environmental degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change could affect lentic breeding amphibians directly by reducing their survival and fecundity, or indirectly by altering their habitats. Increase of temperature and thermal variation may affect breeding phenology, shift distribution patterns, and the possible spread of epidemics. We have provided a critical review on climate change and extreme weather events in Pakistan to discuss possible future scenarios for assisting with the survival of Pakistan's amphibians. Amphibian species of Pakistan, such as Duttaphrynus himalayanus, Bufotes latastii, B. pseudoraddei, B. baturae, Scutiger occidentalis, Allopaa barmoachensis, A. hazarensis, and Nanorana vicina inhabiting the northern region of the country might experience the effects of warmer atmospheric temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, glacier melting, and flash floods while species found in the southwestern arid terrain, such as Bufotes surdus, B. zugmayeri, Duttaphrynus olivaceus, and Chrysopaa sternosignata are expected to suffer from drought and excessive heat. We suggest studying the impact of these changes in the climate to understand the response of amphibian species of Pakistan so that appropriate mitigation strategies, such as ditch draining in areas experiencing drought, could be devised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using bibliometrics enables the identification of hotspots in the literature and the discovery of patterns in science. The study was carried out to systematically analyze the published articles on fluoride (F) research from September 2011 to 2020 via the Scopus database, which turned out 1,006 records of research articles after specifying the search parameters. Bibexcel and VOS viewer was used to examine and illustrate the data. A total of 46 countries were highlighted which published the highest number of articles; among them, India was on the top with 193 research articles, followed by China (89), the USA (26), Pakistan (43), and Iran (31). The unexpected overall expansion in the distribution of F-related research from 2015 to 2020 is evident proof of the rising issue of worldwide F tainting. Southeast Asian countries, viz India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Iran, seem more prone to fluoride contamination in drinking water. A potential reason for the increase is an increasing number of cases of dental and skeletal fluorosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to assess the spatial patterns of selected dust-borne trace elements alongside the river Indus Pakistan, their relation with anthropogenic and natural sources, and the potential risk posed to human health. The studied elements were found in descending concentrations: Mn, Zn, Pb, Cu, Ni, Cr, Co, and Cd. The Index of Geo-accumulation indicated that pollution of trace metals were higher in lower Indus plains than on mountain areas. In general, the toxic elements Cr, Mn, Co and Ni exhibited altitudinal trends ( P < 0.05 ). The few exceptions to this trend were the higher values for all studied elements from the northern wet mountainous zone (low lying Himalaya). Spatial PCA/FA highlighted that the sources of different trace elements were zone specific, thus pointing to both geological influences and anthropogenic activities. The Hazard Index for Co and for Mn in children exceeded the value of 1 only in the riverine delta zone and in the southern low lying zone, whereas the Hazard Index for Pb was above the bench mark for both children and adults (with few exceptions) in all regions, thus indicating potential non-carcinogenic health risks. These results will contribute towards the environmental management of trace metal(s) with potential risk for human health throughout Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Present study was conducted in rapidly growing city Islamabad, and surface soils were collected from three major land cover types viz., built-up, drain side, and green areas. A total of seven physicochemical parameters and 11 metals were determined in surface soils. Factor analysis based on principal component analysis explained total variance of 68.0%, 64.5%, and 60.2% of three land cover types and showed high loadings for major elements (Mg and K) in built-up and green area and Fe in drain side. Top soil pollution index was carried out by using geo-accumulation index and metal pollution index (MPI). Concentration of major elements (Ca, Mg, Na, K) in surface soils is derived by parent material, whereas concentration of Fe, Ni, Pb, and Zn were mainly related with anthropogenic sources. Geostatistical methods such as kirging identified hotspot areas of metal contamination by Pb, Ni, and Zn in built-up areas influenced mainly by vehicular emissions and waste disposal. The results stresses that land clearing should be avoided to reduce contamination and management of urban soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flooding is among the most catastrophic and common natural events. It not only endangers human lives, their livelihoods, and possessions but also devastates the nation’s economy. Increased flooding is an inevitable consequence of climate change. Hence, Identification of flood suspectable hotspots is vital for flood risk management along with disaster handling. The primary objective of this research is to use a frequency ratio model to classify flood-prone zones in two provinces of Pakistan. The flood inventory map was developed using 230 flood location points in Northern Sindh and Southern Punjab. Aspect, profile curvature, elevation, slope, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference soil index (NDSI), distance from the road, distance from the river, land use/land cover (LULC) and rainfall were among the ten (10) determining factors. The data were randomly divided into two distinct datasets, with 70% flood points (161) used for inventory formulation and the other 30% (69 flood points) for result validation. The flood vulnerability map was categorized into five different zones ranging from very low (19.73%) to very high (20.37%) susceptibility range. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and area under curve (AUC) was used to demonstrate the prediction result that yielded a reasonable score of 77.4%. The study suggested that in comparison to other studied districts, Jacobabad is the most prone region with acute vulnerability and constrained resilience. The presented data can serve as a source for tracking, assessing, and predicting potential flood activity in the area and could be beneficial for planners and decision-makers involved in early disaster response planning within the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consumption of contaminated drinking water is one of the major causes of mortality and many severe diseases in developing countries. The principal drinking water sources in Pakistan, i.e. ground and surface water, are subject to geogenic and anthropogenic trace metal contamination. However, water quality monitoring activities have been limited to a few administrative areas and a nationwide human health risk assessment from trace metal exposure is lacking. Using geographically weighted regression (GWR) and eight relevant spatial predictors, we calculated nationwide human health risk maps by predicting the concentration of 10 trace metals in the drinking water sources of Pakistan and comparing them to guideline values. GWR incorporated local variations of trace metal concentrations into prediction models and hence mitigated effects of large distances between sampled districts due to data scarcity. Predicted concentrations mostly exhibited high accuracy and low uncertainty, and were in good agreement with observed concentrations. Concentrations for Central Pakistan were predicted with higher accuracy than for the North and South. A maximum 150–200 fold exceedance of guideline values was observed for predicted cadmium concentrations in ground water and arsenic concentrations in surface water. In more than 53% (4 and 100% for the lower and upper boundaries of 95% confidence interval (CI)) of the total area of Pakistan, the drinking water was predicted to be at risk of contamination from arsenic, chromium, iron, nickel and lead. The area with elevated risks is inhabited by more than 74 million (8 and 172 million for the lower and upper boundaries of 95% CI) people. Although these predictions require further validation by field monitoring, the results can inform disease mitigation and water resources management regarding potential hot spots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]