Ecological Modeling of Grasshopper Species Diversity Using Remote Sensing and Climate Variables in Hyderabad District, Sindh, Pakistan

This research explores the abundance of grasshopper species, biodiversity levels and environmental conditions at 06 sites such as Tando Jam, Hatri Forest, Hussainabad, Tando Hyder, Latifabad, and Kanjo Takr. Total 397 individual grasshoppers belonging to 07 species were recorded, though the number of individuals varied significantly in site. When looking at biodiversity, metrics such as the Shannon, Simpson, and Inverse Simpson indices showed that overall diversity ranged from moderate to high. Tando Jam stood out with the highest Shannon diversity index (H'=1.853), while Latifabad recorded the lowest (H'=1.612). The environmental factors measured at these sites included the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), temperature, humidity, and soil moisture. On average, these values were 0.367 for NDVI, 32.25°C for temperature, 46.5% for humidity, and 21.5% for soil moisture. Using a Generalized Linear Model (GLM), the analysis found that grasshopper abundance was positively influenced by all these factors: NDVI showed the strongest effect (β = 0.80, p < 0.001), followed by soil moisture (β = 0.60, p = 0.002), temperature (β = 0.05, p = 0.002), and humidity (β = 0.02, p = 0.015). Together, these variables accounted for about 68% of the variation in species abundance (R² = 0.68). These results highlight the important role that environmental conditions play in determining where grasshopper species thrive and how diverse their populations are. By combining biodiversity indices with environmental data, this study offers meaningful insights that can help guide conservation efforts and habitat management strategies in these regions.