Pheasants are declining everywhere in the world and therefore updated information about their population and habitats are important for conservation and management. The present study was conducted in the Palas Valley, District Kohistan, Pakistan in late spring (May and June) 2020 and early spring (March and April) 2021 to assess the population and anthropogenic stress. The major focus was on three sympatric pheasant species, including Western Horned Tragopan (Tragopan melanocephalus), Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus), and Koklass Pheasant (Pucrasia macrolopha). We used the “Call Count Method” for the population assessment in the field, and a questionnaire survey was conducted to document the risk assessment of local residents of the valley. The population assessments revealed that the Koklass Pheasant is more adapted to increasing anthropogenic activities and its population appeared more or less similar as 22 years ago. In the past 22 years, Western Tragopan and Himalayan Monal have lost about 40–50% of their populations. Human interference in the form of illegal hunting, deforestation, and overgrazing was found to be common in the valley. The study concludes that the Palas Valley habitat is ideal for pheasant species; however, human interference in the form of urbanization, habitat fragmentation, illegal hunting, and deforestation is occurring at a rapid pace, causing havoc in the pheasant population.

Pheasants play a distinctive and significant role in high altitudinal ecosystems. These are good indicators of environmental changes, and their presence determines the health and balance of the bio-network. Recent human pressure continues to degrade their populations, and some pheasant species are already extinct. Therefore, the current study focuses on pheasant abundance and emerging conservation issues. The pheasant population was assessed using “Call count methods” and analyzed by DISTANCE software. The results revealed that the valleys where human interference is minimum had significantly higher encounter rates and densities of pheasants. At the same time, the pheasant population was severely affected, whether found at lower or higher altitudes, showing seasonal migration toward human settlements. The habitat suitability modeling was performed using the MaxEnt model and showed that human activities overlap with the suitable natural habitats of pheasants. The threats were identified using a systematic questionnaire survey from the nearest villages of the potential habitat, and particular attention was paid to valleys where human pressures were found to be high. Major infrastructure development projects, illegal hunting, and deforestation were identified as the major threats to the pheasant population. The study concluded that proper conservation measures are required to protect pheasants in their potential habitats.

A study was conducted to investigate the impact of forest fires on soil invertebrate diversity in the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) near Islamabad (33°40 – 33°44 N, 72°55 – 73°20 E), situated in the Murree foothills within an elevation range of 450m to 1500m. The study area experiences a fire season from early April to mid-July annually, resulting in significant biodiversity loss. Data were collected from June 2023 to December 2023, primarily focusing on elevation ranging from 548.64 to 1219.2 m. Eight sampling sites were selected, including Shahdara Top, Ratta Hottar, Kanthla Top, Talharr Top, Trail-3 & Trail-5 Connector, Jabbri, Chera Di Gali, and Saidpur in the study area. During the fire season (April-June), a survey was conducted to compare burnt and unburned areas, revealing that abundant soil invertebrates were also observed in the burnt sites. This occurrence was attributed to the migration of predatory soil invertebrates from unburned areas, where they fed on dead insects. A total of 1211 specimens representing 57 different taxa were recorded, with 302 specimens from 33 taxa in the burnt area and 909 specimens from 57 taxa in the unburned area. The species diversity index was 2.88 for the burnt area, classified as 'Not good'. In contrast, the unburned area exhibited a species diversity index of 3.54, classified as 'Good.' Similarly, species evenness was higher in the unburned area. Post-fire season surveys (referred as Winter Season) revealed a significant decline in soil biodiversity, attributed to Alien Invasive Plant Species (AIPS), soil compaction, and dormancy of invertebrates, creating unfavorable habitats for soil biota. A comparison of diversity between summer and winter seasons in the eight sampling sites with burnt areas showed variations in the sites with Trail 3 and 5 Connector exhibiting the highest diversity in summer and Chera Di Gali ranking highest in winter due to dormancy stages of invertebrates of the order Coleoptera, Geophilida and Scolopendromorpha. Common orders observed in burnt sites included Aranea, Coleoptera, Dictyoptera, Gastropods, Hemiptera, Homoptera, Hymenoptera, and Orthoptera. In contrast, unburned sites showed abundance in orders like Aranea, Coleoptera, Diptera, Geophilida, Gastropods, Hemiptera, Homoptera, Haplotaxids, Lepidopterans, Scolopendromorpha, and Zygentoma. Certain species occurred in both burnt and unburned sites, belonging to orders including Aranea, Dictyoptera, Diptera, Gastropods, Geophilida, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Isoptera, and Orthoptera. Forest fires limit data collection for invertebrates, plant biodiversity, and macrofauna. Effective conservation and management of soil invertebrate species in MHNP, Islamabad, require immediate and comprehensive preventive measures by relevant authorities such as IWMB and CDA Islamabad.