Syed Amir Manzoor

• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at Bahauddin Zakariya University

The process of urban growth often results in the conversion of agricultural spaces, including orchards. In Pakistan, Multan, widely known as the city of Mangoes, has seen exponential urban growth in the past couple of decades, resulting in a huge loss of Mango orchards to urban settlements. This research focuses on investigating local farmers’ moti...

Introduction: The influence of urban green spaces on public health is receiving unprecedented attention. Managing urban greenspaces sustainably requires an understanding of the mechanisms behind the positive effects of urban biodiversity on the wellbeing of residents. Urban parks could improve mental restoration of park users. The restoration poten...

Dry temperate forests of Pakistan exhibit rich diversity of understory floral species. These important and endemic plant species play a pivotal role in the ecosystem functioning and providing livelihoods to the forest communities. South Waziristan located in southwest of Pakistan is known for its rare pure stands of Pinus gerardiana Wallichex. D. D...

Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is an invasive pest in South Asia. The current paper documents farmers’ perceptions of fall armyworm in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal and explores the current management practices adopted by farmers. A structured survey was conducted with 526 farmers regarding current cropping practices, identification...

Forest fire frequency has increased in South Asia in recent decades, with a growing impact on forest ecosystems. Nepal's Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) is one of the most ecologically important landscapes in Asia, hosting a great diversity of endangered flora and fauna. To better predict the threat of fire to forest ecosystems in the TAL, we identified...

Scenario analysis allows policymakers to explore and map plausible futures in a systematic manner; yet there are few examples of applying this tool at local scales, thereby missing the detail needed for a better understanding of local processes. In collaboration with local farmers, serious gaming is used to map the impacts of future land cover chan...

Spatio-temporal analysis of transitions in land cover is critical to understanding many ecological challenges, especially in environmentally vulnerable regions. For instance, in Sub-Saharan Africa, large-scale cropland expansion is expected due to the increasing demand for fuel, food, and fibre. Clearing land for cropland expansion is a driving fac...

Scenario analysis is a powerful tool that allows policymakers to explore plausible futures in a systematic manner. This technical briefing describes the process to translate the ‘storylines’ that emerged from a stakeholder workshop in Zambia in 2018, into maps of projected land cover change to 2050.

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of the rangeland inhabitants plays an important role in range resource management. It complements other scientific tools of rangeland monitoring by filling the gaps in the information needed to assess rangeland condition. Local herders in extensive rangelands have developed certain ecological indicators that a...

The rapidly increasing population of human beings in semi-arid areas is often considered as a major factor of land degradation. Only a few studies have examined the dynamics of human settlements on the composition, diversity, structure and palatability of range vegetation in Southern Punjab Pakistan. The current study aims to assess whether the dis...

Citation: Jamil, A.; Zubair, M.; Manzoor, S.A.; Wali Muhammad, M.; Yasin, G.; Ur Rahman, S.; Alzain, M.N.; Alqarawi, A.A.; Abd_Allah, E.F. Impact of Human Settlements on Diversity of Range Vegetation.

Integrated pest management adoption is quite low around the globe, particularly in developing countries, due to different factors. Here, we examine the factors affecting the intention of Pakistani farmers to adopt integrated pest management practices in vegetable production using a structured questionnaire. We interviewed 301 vegetable growers in M...

Integrated pest management adoption is quite low around the globe, particularly in developing countries, due to different factors. Here, we examine the factors affecting the intention of Pakistani farmers to adopt integrated pest management practices in vegetable production using a structured questionnaire. We interviewed 301 vegetable growers in M...

In this policy brief, we highlight what we currently know about the drivers of agricultural expansion in Zambia and their implications for food security, livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. Data was gathered using a suite of rapid-assessment participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools during fieldwork conducted in 2019 by the Sentinel project...

In complex urban systems, urban parks are rare hot spots of nature, responsible for delivering a range of ecosystem services. Trees are critically important components of urban parks that provide many benefits , and, at the same time, face challenges such as lack of funds, mismanagement, climate change, pests, and diseases. There is a growing need...

Changes in agricultural policy may have a rapid impact, even on landscapes which have taken millennia to form. Here we explore the potential impact of the UK leaving the EU as a catalyst for profound changes in the pastoral landscapes of Wales. Impending change of the trading regime governing agricultural produce, concurrent with public pressure to...

Climate change threatens global sustainability, especially in rural communities of developing countries. In Pakistan, severe impacts of climate change have become evident in the recent past. Large-scale floods in the Indus river system have caused massive damages in the past decade. Also, frequent droughts and heatwaves are among other consequences...

Global change drivers such as land use and climate changes are known to interact in their effects on biodiversity. The impact of these drivers on global biodiversity is increasingly evident in many forms including the spread of invasive species. Climate and land use changes affect introduction, colonization and spread of invasive species by affecti...

We explore the intentions of farmers' pesticide use by using expanded versions of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). We added variables such as farmers' knowledge about pesticides, moral norms, progressive farming approach, farm size, farming experience, and formal education of the farmers as additional predictors in the original TPB model. We i...

Biological invasions threaten global biodiversity and natural resources. Anticipating future invasions is central to strategies for combating the spread of invasive species. Ecological niche models are thus increasingly used to predict potential distribution of invasive species. In this study, we compare ecological niches of Rhododendron ponticum i...

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are crucial in driving the economy of communities living inside or around forests. The scarcity of business and employment opportunities often push the forest proximate communities to tap a range of NTFPs for earning their livelihoods. In many forest-based communities around the world, children are actively involv...

Significant changes in the composition and extent of the UK forest cover are likely to take place in the coming decades. Current policy targets an increase in forest area, for example, the Welsh Government aims for forest expansion by 2030, and a purposeful shift from non-native conifers to broadleaved tree species, as identified by the UK Forestry...

Invasive plant species represent a serious threat to biodiversity, their spread drives a sustained global effort to eradicate or at least control this phenomenon. Current distribution ranges of many invasive species are likely to be modified in the future by land cover and climate change. Thus, invasion management can be made more effective by fore...

Urban sprawl causes changes in land use and a decline in many ecosystem services. Understanding the spatial patterns of sprawl and exploration of citizens' perception towards the sporadic urban expansion and its impacts on an ecosystem to deliver services can help to guide land use planning and the conservation of the urban ecosystem. Here, we spat...

Floods are amongst the most damaging natural disasters for humans and the environment. Flood susceptibility maps have been successfully used to monitor areas with a tendency to flood. In this regard, a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) in a GIS modelling environment can be used to generate flood susceptibility maps. MCDA is a decision-making...

Invasive plant species represent a serious threat to biodiversity precipitating a sustained global effort to eradicate or at least control the spread of this phenomenon. Current distribution ranges of many invasive species are likely to be modified in the future by land cover and climate change. Thus, invasion management can be made more effective...

Species distribution models have been used to predict the distribution of invasive species for conservation planning. Understanding spatial transferability of niche predictions is critical to promote species-habitat conservation and forecasting areas vulnerable to invasion. Grain size of predictor variables is an important factor affecting the accu...

Invasive plant species represent a serious threat to biodiversity, their spread drives a sustained global effort to eradicate or at least control this phenomenon. Current distribution ranges of many invasive species are likely to be modified in the future by land cover and climate change. Thus, invasion management can be made more effective by fore...

Biofuel tree species are recognized as a promising alternative source of fuel to conventional forms. Additionally, these tree species are also effective in accumulating toxic heavy metals present in some industrial effluents. In developing countries such as Pakistan, the use of biofuel tree species is gaining popularity not only for harvesting econ...

The industrial development and population expansion has led to the excessive utilization of natural resources of water by fulfilling demand for food and related products. Current over-exploited water reservoirs reiterate necessity to opt for water saving technologies for sustainable agriculture and forestry practices. Present research made use of a...

Nanotechnology is a new technology playing a vital role in different fields of science like medicine, engineering, electronic, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and food industry. Nanoparticles are used in this technology, which are of the size of 10-9 in diameter having several unique physical, biological and chemical characteristics. Nanoparticles are...