Faculty of Forestry, Wildlife & RM, University Of Agriculture D.I.Khan

23/09/2025

03/09/2025

22/12/2024

The Hidden Universe of Life in a Few Drops of Pond Water

Biodiversity isn’t just about iconic forests or oceans, it’s also found in overlooked places like ponds, where every organism plays a vital role in maintaining balance.

A few drops of pond water can reveal an entire world, microscopic organisms working together to shape ecosystems in ways we rarely notice.

What’s Hiding Beneath the Surface?

🔬 Stentors: Giants of the single-celled world, these trumpet-shaped organisms use hair-like cilia to create tiny currents that draw food into their cells. Inside, you can even see their meals being digested, a fascinating look at how microscopic life sustains itself.

🦠 Green Cells: These single-celled organisms host algae within their bodies, forming a symbiotic relationship. The algae produces oxygen through photosynthesis, helping their hosts survive in low-oxygen environments, while benefiting from the waste their hosts produce. This partnership mirrors the interconnected systems that drive life at every scale.

🪱 Spirostomum: Single-celled speedsters with muscle-like fibres that enable lightning-fast contractions (one of the fastest movements in the natural world!) enabling them to move. Their rapid reflexes highlight the extraordinary adaptations of microscopic organisms.

🔎 Rotifers: Multicellular animals so small they rival their single-celled neighbours. With visible jaws grinding through food and cilia for swimming and feeding, rotifers are like tiny machines, showing us the complexity present even at the smallest scales.

This hidden world offers a glimpse into the delicate web of biodiversity. Protecting and restoring habitats isn’t just about focusing on the species we see, it’s about safeguarding entire ecosystems, from microscopic life to larger organisms that depend on these interconnected systems.

The health of ponds and rivers has a huge impact on the natural world, supporting insects, amphibians and birds that depend on them. These overlooked habitats are some of our most valuable, with immense power to support and regenerate ecosystems.

Next time you walk by a pond have a think about the incredible life it holds. Beneath the surface lies a hidden universe, a reminder of why protecting biodiversity at every level is so important.

(Credit: My Microscopic World)

02/12/2024

Shout out to my newest followers! Excited to have you onboard! Naveed Alam, Iqrar Shah Sbb, Ubaid Ali Shah Pti

29/11/2024

fans

07/11/2024

We are delighted to announce that Hamad Saliq, a student of the Department of Forestry at The University of Agriculture, D.I. Khan (session 2020-2024), has passed the Sub Divisional Forest Officer test through PPSC. He is the first candidate from the Department of Forestry to appear in the Punjab Province Commission exam and achieved an outstanding position among 92 candidates from across the province.

On behalf of the Faculty of FWRM and UAD, we extend our best wishes for his upcoming interview. This is an inspiration for all forestry students. Once again, congratulations to dear Hamad and his family on this remarkable achievement in passing the Forest Officer exam. Your dedication to protecting our natural resources and contributing to environmental conservation is truly inspiring. The Department of Forestry is immensely proud of your accomplishment.

18/10/2024

باغبان حضرات اپنے پودوں کے گرد پانی جمع کرنے کیلۓ پودے کے گرد گھڑے اس طرح بنائیں تاکہ پانی پودے کے تنے کو نہ لگے جس سے پودے کے تنے کو پھپندی بیماری لگ سکتی ہے اور پورا پودہ خشک ہوجاتا ہیں۔

31/08/2024

28/08/2024

Plants scream when they’re under stress.

A new study found that certain plants emit popping or clicking noises in ultrasonic frequencies under life-threatening stress, which humans cannot hear.

This is what they sound like. Scientists recorded tomato and to***co plants that were deprived of water, had their stems cut, or were comfortable. Stressed plants were found to emit significantly more sounds than the comfortable group. Recordings show that each sound can be specific for a certain type of stress. The sounds can be detected within a radius of over a meter and are produced by a range of plant species. The team used machine learning to differentiate between the sounds emitted by unstressed plants, cut plants, and dehydrated plants, with the latter producing the most sound. It is unclear how the sounds are produced or whether they are an adaptive development, but scientists believe other organisms could be listening and responding to the sounds. This discovery challenges the belief that plants are almost silent.

25/08/2024

Form factor is a crucial concept in forestry that helps us estimate tree volume accurately. Simply put, it's the ratio of a tree's actual volume to the volume of a cylinder with the same height and diameter.

Why it matters?

1: Improves timber volume estimates
2: Helps in forest inventory and management
3: Useful for valuing timber stands

Form factors typically range from 0.4 to 0.6 for most tree species. The higher the number, the more cylindrical the tree's shape.

Below is a list of form factors for tree species found in Pakistan.🌳