Impact of population dynamics on Margalla Hills Ecosystem:a community-level case study

Margalla Hills National Park(MHNP) is a declared natural reserve of Pakistan,and Saidpur village is located at its foothills.To sustain livelihood,Saidpur community relies on natural resources and has established an intriguing relationship with the surrounding ecosystem.Human intrusion and related impacts were investigated through self-structured questionnaire from village community to gather information about demography,life practices,natural resource use,and their perception about the environment.Quadrat analysis revealed that the overall plant density was<4 plants/m~2,whereas ordination biplot has indicated significant reduction in plant cover and sparse distribution of species in areas close to human settlement.Survey results show that more than 50%families rely on forest wood as fuel source.Logistic regression has identified education paucity(odds ratio,OR=2.6,95%confidence interval,CI=1.0-6.7),large family size(OR= 5.0,95%CI=1.5-16.6),and fuel type(OR=3.5,95%CI=1.2-9.9)as significant predictors of accelerated forest cutting in MHNP.Male members were mostly illiterate and in favor to promote construction activities which reflects their low concern and casual attitude toward resource conservation.In this study,lack of awareness and peoples’ dependency on natural resources emerged as priority challenges,and hence,we suggest provision of alternate fuel sources,better education and sustained income resources as incentives to bring behavioral change.It is pivotal to involve local community before the adoption of any conservation plan as intervention strategy to protect MHNP ecosystem.     

Sediments deposition due to soil erosion in the watershed region of Mangla Dam

Soil erosion is the most important reason of sedimentation load of water reservoirs in the world. In Pakistan, Mangla dam is one of the most important water reservoirs used for the production of electricity and for the supply of water for irrigation purposes. However, the capacity of Mangla dam reservoir has reduced by more than 20% since its construction. This study highlights the impact of rainfall on soil erosion and consequently on sedimentation deposition in Mangla dam reservoir. Sedimentation, annual rainfall, and normal rainfall data of 39 years were used in this study. Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission data were used to calculate the total drainage area of the Mangla watershed region. The sedimentation data of Mangla reservoir from 1967 to 2005 were retrieved from Water and Power Development Authority in Pakistan. The meteorological observatories in the Mangla watershed region are identified. Annual rainfall data from 1967 to 2005 for the meteorological observatories in the Mangla watershed regions were retrieved from Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD). In addition, normal rainfall data for the years 1949 to 1978 and for the years 1979 to 2008 were also retrieved from PMD. The impact of annual rainfall is observed on sedimentation load in Mangla dam. The correlation coefficient between annual rainfall and sedimentation load is 0.94. This study shows that with an increase in rainfall, the soil erosion of the area increases which subsequently is responsible for the increase in the rate of sedimentation load in Mangla dam. This study further demonstrates that better soil management can reduce the sedimentation load in the Mangla reservoir.     

The role of disinfectants and sanitizers during COVID-19 pandemic: advantages and deleterious effects on humans and the environment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Disinfectants and sanitizers are essential preventive agents against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; however, the pandemic crisis...     

Challenges on the recycling of cigarette butts

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Cigarette butt (CB)&nbsp;is a crucial litter in urban communities because it may contain various toxicants. Due to serious limitations on...     

Natural resources,population aging,and environmental quality: analyzing the role of green technologies

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Depletion of natural resources and population aging are the two most critical challenges for environmental sustainability. However, the research that...     

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the impacts of glyphosate on the reproductive hormones

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Worldwide use of glyphosate is constantly increasing and its residues are detected in drinking water, agriculture, and food products. There are...     

Constitutional tolerance and chlorophyll fluorescence of Boehmeria nivea L in response to the antimony (Sb) and arsenic (As) co-contamination

The metal tolerance and metabolic changes in Boehmeria nivea colonized in mining areas are not well known. A hydroponic experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of antimony (Sb)+arsenic (As) in following combinations (control (no metal), 20+0, 10+10, 40+0, 20+20, and 40+40 mg/L) on phytotoxicity, metal tolerance index (MTI), and chlorophyll fluorescence in B. nivea. This constitutes an initial investigation of metal tolerance and chlorophyll fluorescence in Sb and Sb+As contaminated B. nivea. The high Sb+As 40+40 mg/L produced significant phytotoxicity and MTI in the plant. Progressive higher Sb and Sb+As levels resulted in decreased chlorophyll fluorescence of B. nivea. Exposure to intermediate and high Sb+As levels induced damage in the photosynthesis apparatus of the plant.     

Non-mosaic trisomy 22: a report of 2 cases

Non-mosaic trisomy 22 is a common cause of first trimester miscarriage and has a livebirth incidence of 1 in 30 000–50 000. Consequently there is a paucity of information for counselling parents. Detection in the second trimester is rare. It is commonly associated with severe growth retardation and multiple structural abnormalities. Oligohydramnios is frequently seen and can make detection of other abnormalities difficult. The outlook is uniformly poor and survival beyond the first trimester may present management dilemmas. A thorough fetal assessment including high-resolution cytogenetics with or without FISH is required for counselling. Careful plans for intrapartum and neonatal management may be necessary. The recurrence risk is thought to be low but information is very limited as there have been no reported cases of recurrence. We present two case of non-mosaic trisomy 22 including the first to be diagnosed subsequent to investigation for a high serum screening Down's risk. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Urbanization and sustainability: challenges and strategies for sustainable urban development in Bangladesh

Like other developing countries, urbanization in Bangladesh is a growing phenomenon, which is steady in nature but fretfully affects urban sustainability in the wake of lacking in good governance. Despite urban authorities are concerned about this issue, they often fail to address the problems due to the fact of uncontrollable and unpredictable rural to urban migration, and negligence of urban poor’s sustainable living and access to basic services. Virtually the rural poverty problem has been transposed to urban areas, particularly in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. Inadequacy of infrastructural services, basic amenities and environmental goods; environmental degradation; traffic jam and accidents; violence and socioeconomic insecurity are the major challenges which are created through rapid urbanization. This paper provides a general understanding of urbanization in Bangladesh and tries to embrace related sustainability issues and challenges hindrance to sustainable urban development in Dhaka city. In addition, it presents a brief case study of water supply in Dhaka city which introduces an issue of ‘system hijack’. The paper concludes providing some strategies that might be helpful to the policy makers in formulating development policies for sustainable urban services.