Central Karakoram National Park Research Articles

Impact of Climate Change on Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Glaciers in Western Karakoram Region since 1990: A Case Study of Central Karakoram National Park

Glaciers in the Upper Indus Basin (UIB) in Pakistan are the major source of water, irrigation, and power production for downstream regions. Global warming has induced a substantial impact on these glaciers. In the present study, Landsat images were utilized to evaluate the glaciers for the period from 1990–2020 in the Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP) region to further correlate with climate parameters. The results reveal that glaciers are retreating and the highest (2.33 km2) and lowest (0.18 km2) recession rates were observed for Biafo and Khurdopin glaciers, respectively. However, a minor advancement has also been observed for the period from 1990–2001. More than 80% of glacier recession was recorded between 2009–2020 because mean summer temperature increased at both Skardu and Gilgit meteorological stations, while precipitation decreased at both stations from 2005–2020. The increase in mean summer temperature and decrease in winter precipitation resulted in glacial retreat, which will lead to water scarcity in the future as well as affect the agriculture sector and hydropower production in downstream areas of the Indus River basin.

Impact of Supply Components-4As on Tourism Development: Case of Central Karakoram National Park, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Purpose: This research is aimed to find out tourism supply components known as the 4As. Accommodation, Access, Amenities and Attractions for the tourism development in the Central Karakoram National Park, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Design/Methodology/Approach: To carry out the current study, a total of 509 self-administered questionnaires were distributed among the tourists to collect the data which was analysed by using SPSS and Partial Least Square (PLS). PLS-SEM was applied to find out the relationship between variables and test the strength of the proposed model. Findings: The study concludes that two variables have significant impact on tourism development while other two identified with insignificant impact on tourism development in the Central Karakoram National Park, Gilgit-Baltistan Pakistan. Practical implications: Tourism development is linked with increasing the accommodation, facilities, and advertisement whereas the current study includes all the required components which helps in developing tourism at destination. Originality/value: The importance of infrastructure development as the basis for the tourism development whereas current research further strengthens this idea by exploring and including more components in it.

Assessment of floristic diversity in the desert ecosystem of central Karakoram National Park (Karakoram Range) Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Assessment of floristic diversity in the desert ecosystem of central Karakoram National Park (Karakoram Range) Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

The Nexus between Microfinance, Income Inequality and Sustainable Development: Cross-Sectional Evidence from Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP) Region of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

The Nexus between Microfinance, Income Inequality and Sustainable Development: Cross-Sectional Evidence from Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP) Region of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Landslide susceptibility assessment using Frequency Ratio, a case study of northern Pakistan

The northern Pakistan is attributed with rough terrain, active seismicity, monsoon rains, and therefore hosts to variety of geohazards. Among the geohazards, landslides are the most frequent hazard with devastating impacts on economy and society. However, for most of the northern Pakistan, landslide susceptibility maps are not available which can be used for landslide hazard mitigation. This study aims to develop a remote sensing based landslide inventory, analysing their spatial distribution and develop the landslide susceptibility map. The area, selected for this study is comprised of Haramosh valley, Bagrote valley and some parts of Nagar valley, in the Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP) in Gilgit-Baltistan, northern Pakistan. The SPOT-5 satellite image was used to develop a landslide inventory which was subsequently verified in the field. The landslide causative factors of topographic attributes (slope and aspect), geology, landcover, distances from fault, road and streams were used to evaluate their influence on the spatial distribution of landslides. The study revealed that the distance to road, slope gradient has the significant influence on the spatial distribution of the landslides, followed by the geology. The derived results were used in the Frequency ratio technique to develop a landslide susceptibility map. The developed landslide susceptibility map can be utilized for landslide mitigation in the study area.

Inventory of glaciers and glacial lakes of the Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP – Pakistan)

ABSTRACTThis study presents a map reporting valuable information on the cryosphere of the Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP, the largest protected area of Pakistan and the highest park in the world). All the information is provided considering the CKNP as a whole, and in detail by dividing it into five basins (i.e. Shigar, Hunza, Shyok, Upper Indus, and Gilgit). The glacier inventory reports 608 ice bodies covering 3680 km2 (∼35% of the CKNP area), with a total glacier volume of ca. 532 km3. In addition, we modeled the meltwater from glacier ice ablation over the period 23 July to 9 August 2011. The total melt amount is ca. 1.5 km3. Finally, we considered glacial lakes (202 water-bodies, covering 4 km2). For these latter glacier features, we also analyzed their potentially dangerous conditions and two lakes were found having such conditions.

Infectious keratoconjunctivitis and occurrence of Mycoplasma conjunctivae and Chlamydiaceae in small domestic ruminants from Central Karakoram, Pakistan

Infectious keratoconjunctivitis (IKC) is a contagious eye disease primarily caused by Mycoplasma conjunctivae in domestic and wild Caprinae. Chlamydophila species have also been detected in ruminants with IKC. The objectives...

Documentation of Ethnoveterinary Practices in the CKNP Region, Gilgit-Baltistan

<p>Majority of the livestock holders in different areas of Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP) region in Gilgit-Baltistan lack the modern veterinary healthcare facilities. The local community mostly depends upon the traditional floral therapeutic veterinary practices for the cure of various livestock diseases. The lack of the ethnoveterinary surveys in the CKNP region results in loss in the scientific documentation of the traditional information and practices about the livestock healthcare.</p><p>The present study deals with the documentation of the livestock diseases and the ethnoveterinary herbal and non-herbal therapeutic practices by the livestock holders in CKNP region.</p><p>The study was conducted from March 2012 to March 2013 in the valleys of CKNP region. The ethnoveterinary data was collected through the semi-structured questionnaires and the techniques of interviews and field visits. And the productive interaction provided an enabling background for the successful Rapid Rural Appraisal and Participatory Rural Appraisal research.</p><p>Total 156 local community members were interviewed in Thallay, Khaplu, Hushe and Shigar valleys. The survey showed the prevalence of the most common diseases e.g. FMD, intestinal problems etc. Among the 51 medicinal plants, the Asteraceae family exhibited the highest number of genera with the therapeutic species. The parts of the plants that were most frequently used for the therapeutic purposes were the leaves (55%), seed (15%) etc.</p><p>The present study contributed to the documentation of the medicinal plants used in the ethnoveterinary practices in valleys in CKNP region, Gilgit-Baltistan.</p>

Natural Resource Management for the World’s Highest Park: Community Attitudes on Sustainability for Central Karakoram National Park, Pakistan

The management of natural resources has become a crucial agenda item at the community level of every country, due to the importance of a community’s direct involvement in the stewardship of these resources. The sustainable management of natural resources is not easy without the involvement of the community. To know the attitudes of residents in the communities in close proximity to Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP) towards natural resource sustainable management policy, a study of CKNP in northern Pakistan was conducted. This is the first community study for this park. It is difficult to overstate the economic and geographic importance of this national resource to the Pakistani people at local and national levels, as well as at the international level. This is the world’s highest public park; as a natural resource it is not only important to the local community, it also has great relevance internationally. The study attempted to gauge the attitudes of the local community towards the sustainable management practices of CKNP. The results of this study showed generally positive attitudes towards the park. The majority of respondents revealed that the park’s primary appeal is its geographic location. Households were afraid that pollution in the park will gradually destroy the park’s natural resources. For sustainable management of the CKNP, community members expressed willingness to contribute to the betterment of park through volunteerism. Community members praised the government’s supportive actions, including budgetary support and public-awareness campaigns. As such, the positive attitude of the community towards the CKNP also revealed new insights for the community-centered sustainable management of natural resources in developing countries. This study also provides a research gap for future work relating to the sustainable management of community-based natural resources to consider more factors beside the factors used in this study.

Glacier area stability in the Central Karakoram National Park (Pakistan) in 2001–2010

The Karakoram Range is one of the most glacierized mountain regions in the world, and glaciers there are an important water resource for Pakistan. The attention paid to this area is increasing because its glaciers remained rather stable in the early twenty-first century, in contrast to the general glacier retreat observed worldwide on average. This condition is also known as “Karakoram Anomaly”. Here we focus on the recent evolution of glaciers within the Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP, area: *13,000 km2) to assess their status in this region with respect to the described anomaly. A glacier inventory was produced for the years 2001 and 2010, using Landsat images. In total, 711 ice-bodies were detected and digitized, covering an area of 4605.9 ± 86.1 km2in 2001 and 4606.3 ± 183.7 km2in 2010, with abundant supraglacial debris cover. The difference between the area values of 2001 and 2010 is not significant (+0.4 ± 202.9 km2), confirming the anomalous behavior of glaciers in this region. The causes of such an anomaly may be various. The increase of snow cover areas from 2001 to 2011 detected using MODIS snow data; the reduction of mean summer temperatures; and the augmented snowfall events during 1980–2009 observed at meteorological stations and confirmed by the available literature, are climatic factors associated with positive mass balances. Because the response of glacier area change to climate variation is very slow for large glaciers, the presence of some of the largest glaciers of the Karakoram Range in this region might have delayed observed effects of such climate change so far, or alternatively, the change may not be sufficient to drive an actual area increase. In this context, improved understanding the role of debris cover, meltwater ponds, and exposed ice cliffs on debris-covered glaciers, and surging glaciers (which are also found abundant here), are required is still an issue to clarify the mechanisms behind the Karakoram Anomaly.

Himalayan ibex (Capra ibex sibirica) habitat suitability and range resource dynamics in the Central Karakorum National Park, Pakistan

The study investigates Himalayan ibex (Capra ibex sibirica) and their range resource condition within the preferred habitat in the Central Karakoram National Park, Pakistan. We apply ecological niche factor analysis (ENFA) using 110 ibex sighting data and 6 key biophysical variables describing the habitat conditions and produce habitat suitability and maps with GIS and statistical tool (BioMapper). The modeling results of specialization factor shows some limitation for ibex over the use of slope, elevation, vegetation types and ruggedness. The habitat area selection for the ibex is adjusted to the ibex friendly habitat available conditions. The model results predicted suitable habitat for ibex in certain places, where field observation was never recorded. The range resource dynamics depict a large area that comes under the alpine meadows has the highest seasonal productivity, assessed by remote sensing based fortnightly vegetation condition data of the last 11years. These meadows are showing browning trend over the years, attributable to grazing practices or climate conditions. At lower elevation, there are limited areas with suitable dry steppes, which may cause stress on ibex, especially during winter.

A simple model to evaluate ice melt over the ablation area of glaciers in the Central Karakoram National Park, Pakistan

AbstractThis study provides an estimate of fresh water derived from ice melt for the ablation areas of glaciers in the Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP), Pakistan. In the CKNP there are ~700 glaciers, covering ~4600 km2, with widespread debris cover (518 km2). To assess meltwater volume we applied a distributed model able to describe both debris-covered and debris-free ice ablation. The model was calibrated using data collected in the field in the CKNP area and validated by comparison with ablation data collected in the field, independent of the data used in building the model. During 23 July–9 August 2011, the mean model-estimated ablation in the CKNP was 0.024 m w.e. d–1 in debris-covered areas and 0.037 m w.e. d–1 in debris-free areas. We found a mean error of +0.01 m w.e. (corresponding to 2%) and a root-mean-square error equal to 0.09 m w.e. (17%). According to our model, the ablation areas of all the glaciers in the CKNP produced a water volume of 1.963 km3 during the study period. Finally, we performed several sensitivity tests for assessing the impact of the input data variations.

Bacteriological Analysis of Drinking Water Sources in CKNP Region of Gilgit –Baltistan, Pakistan

The study was focused on the Bacteriological characteristics of drinking water within the selected villages fall in Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP) Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Different water sources were taken in to account including streams, springs, rivers and other storage structures viz; wells and Tanks. A total of 51 water samples were collected from 17 different localities and transported to lab in battery operated portable refrigerators. All necessary data including coordinates was mustered. Sources were examined with a strategy to sample from source mid and last points. The idea was to evaluate the stage and subsequent level of contamination. The level of contamination was ranged from 0-160 CFU for E-coli, 0-85 for Enterococci and total bacterial count ranged from 2-180 CFU, whereas no any Salmonella species was detected in one liter. The well and surface water was highly contaminated and the spring sources were less or no contaminated depending upon protected and open sources respectively. While the contamination level showed a culminated trend from mid to last usage points.

Elaboration of Phylogenetic studies in Berberis spp. from Karakorum Ranges. II. Floral and Morpho-pathological data

Berberis species are considered very important in Eastern, Ayurvedic, Unani and modern allopathic medicines for treatment of cancer, diabetes, bone fractures, jaundice, enlargement of spleen, AIDS, osteoporosis, heart problems, ocular trachoma, hypertension, infectious diseases, cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, eye troubles and leprosy. The root and the stem bark of Berberis spp. are the richest source of Berberine alkaloids. Overlapping characters across Berberis spp. make identification often difficult. Present research was undertaken to study phylogenetic relationships among various accessions of Berberis collected from Central Karakoram National Park using detailed morphological, floral and pathological characters. Genetic diversity was estimated in material using UPGMA procedure. Genetic Distances among all possible combinations were estimated and ranged from 1 % to 25%. Data regarding morphological, pathological and floral characters was also analyzed using dendrogram analysis. Dendrogram constructed using pooled data was found most informative. Eleven accessions of Berberis were grouped into three main groups. It has been concluded that 5 accessions included in subgroups A1 and A2 (low altitude, less than 2050 m) more likely falls in B. pseudumbellata subspecies pseudumbellata; instead of previously reported species B. Lyceum. Similarly, it has been concluded that accessions # 4, # 5 and # 6 (higher altitudes (more than 2050 m) are more closely related to B. pseudumbellata subspecies gilgitica. It has also been suggested that as classification of Berberis spp is still not clear, hence more work preferably based on DNA technology is needed to reach on better and concrete conclusion regarding taxonomic classification of Berberis species/subspecies.

Spatial analysis of potato black scurf disease distribution using GIS and variability of Rhizoctonia solani isolates in Central Karakoram National Park Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Spatial analysis of black scurf distribution and morphological variability were carried out during the year 2012-13 using geographical information system and geostatistics techniques in four valleys & twenty four villages of CKNP region. During the studied it is showed that among the twenty four village eight villages found > 60 % disease prevalence, thirteen in range of 40 – 60 % and three villages 15 %, thirteen villages 10-15 % and three villages 5, thirteen 35 and seven villages in 20 mm-day-1). Effects of different temperature and pH levels on CGR of the isolates were assessed. All isolates attained (above 80 mm CGR) at 30 oC, (70-80 mm CGR) at 25°C and Optimum pH for CGR of isolate were 6.5-7.5 while cluster analysis of twenty isolates were categorized into two main groups i.e. A and B. 70 % of the isolates were classified in cluster A while 30 % in B.

Environmental orientations and environmental behaviour: Perceptions of protected area tourism stakeholders

There are numerous studies in the academic literature which assert that environmental attitudes can influence the process of sustainable tourism in protected areas. To test this claim, this research was undertaken in Central Karakoram National Park, Pakistan. The purpose of the research was to examine the differences in environmental orientations of four stakeholder groups associated with protected area tourism and to determine the factors that might influence their intentions to engage in environmentally responsible behaviour. The New Ecological Paradigm scale was used to assess environmental orientations. In addition, interviews were conducted to examine the factors that impacted these orientations. The results show significant differences among the stakeholders' orientations towards the environment and multiple factors that influence stakeholders' intention to engage in environmental conservation and sustainable tourism, namely economic benefits, awareness and information, top down governance and resource use rights.

First steps towards a landslide inventory map of the Central Karakoram National Park

The northeastern part of Pakistan is known to be a region of extremes, where the highest reliefs and the longest glaciers of the world may be found. In this environment, through the multidisciplinary Social, Economic and Environmental Development (SEED) Project the knowledge of the sustainable exploitation possibilities of the Central Karakoram National Park area (CKNP) will be improved.One of this project's objectives is the analysis of the geological hazards giving as output a landslide inventory and a susceptibility map, utilizable as functional tools for a future sustainable territorial planning. The Bagrot Valley, chosen as test site, was partially field surveyed and part of the landslide-prone areas preliminarily identified through DEM analysis, GIS techniques and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology, were later validated on the field. ASTER DEM was used as the basis of morphometric analysis.

Experience With a Hard and Soft Participatory Modeling Framework for Social-ecological System Management in Mount Everest (Nepal) and K2 (Pakistan) Protected Areas

High mountains have sensitive social-ecological systems (SESs) characterized by fragility, complexity, and marginality. The local economies of these environments mainly rely on primary production, tourism, and leisure activities; thus human–ecosystem interactions are intricately linked. Many authors stress that this strict relationship must be assisted with a participatory approach involving interested stakeholders in the conceptualization, specification, and synthesis of knowledge and experience into useable information for the express purpose of addressing a problem complex. This paper presents experience garnered with a participatory modeling framework combining hard and soft methodology in 2 case studies: the Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone (Nepal) and the Central Karakoram National Park (Pakistan). The modeling framework was developed based on local stakeholders' demands and needs; it consists of 5 modules, briefly presented here along with their conceptual background. In developing the framework, particular emphasis was given to considering the needs of decision-makers at the local level, rather than simply providing technical solutions to abstract problems. From the development of this modeling process, a need emerged to structure a management-oriented research module in order to generate management knowledge that is both stakeholder-relevant and evidence-based. The application of the framework in the 2 cases studies showed that the modeling can trigger valuable discussion among stakeholders as well as guidance for management-oriented research and feedback loops ensuring validation of knowledge. In addition, the resulting scenarios can help decision-makers in defining pathways for sustainable development in mountain areas, where people's livelihoods are closely dependent on ecosystems. The framework was developed in such a way that it can be replicated in other mountain areas with similar challenges.