**2.1 Study area**

A landlocked country Nepal situated between 80°and 88° E longitude and from 26° to 31° N latitude which covers an area of 147,181 Sq.km measuring 880 kilometers (547 mi) along its Himalayan axis by 150 to 250 kilometers (93 to 155 mi) across. The new

**Figure 1.** *Landuse pattern of Nepal.*

map showing Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh as Nepali territories, Government of Nepal has further declared as an extended area of 147, 516km2 (56,956 sq. mi) [20]. Nepal resembles five physiographic zones and seven bio-climatic zones identified by Dobremez [21] extending from East to West, including the High Himal, High Mountains, Middle Mountains (or Middle Hills), Siwalik (or Chure), and Terai [22] (**Figure 1**). The genetic, species and ecosystem level biodiversity of Nepal spreads over tropical forests from Terai (67-1000 masl), mid hill (1000-2000 masl) subtropical and temperate regions (2000–3000 masl) to Himalayas sub-alpine and alpine pastures and snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas (> 3000 masl). As shown in **Figure 1**, land cover in Nepal includes different types of forests (broadleaf, needle leaf, mixed), agriculture, shrub lands, grasslands, bare lands, river and lakes, and glacier/snow [23, 24].
