Abstract:
Each year 700,000 to 1,200,000 birds including endangered species use Ramsar sites of Pakistan as staging sites during annual migration in winters. Vegetation condition of wetlands is a crucial factor for bird’s stopover. Changing climate and regional factors deeply effected vegetation cover of the habitats. It is desirable to monitor vegetation changes of wetlands for biodiversity conservation. In this research, temporal land-cover changes of Ramsar wetlands were studied during the spring season for years 2000, 2010 and 2014 using Landsat satellite imagery. Effects of precipitation change patterns on vegetation were also observed. Outcomes of the vegetation change cover mapping were used for the Habitat Suitability Indexing (HSI) of Ramsar sites. Wetlands of Haleji, Hub, Jiwani, Jubhoo and Nurri lagoon showed nominal positive vegetation trend. Ramsar sites of Deh-Akro II, Kinjhar, Kutch and Miani Hor observed no significant change. The remaining studied seven sites, namely Drigh Lake, Tanda dam, Thanedar wala, Uchhali wetland complex, Chashma barrage, Indus Delta wetland and Taunsa barrage, showed decline in vegetation over the years. Delay in rainfalls and human activities like fishing, hunting, trapping and pollution caused decline in vegetation and subsequently less number of migratory birds. Quick response by local authorities is required to increase and stabilize the decreasing vegetation condition at wetlands for the healthy avian population and biodiversity conservation.
