Pakistan Association for the Advancement of Science
The Biological Society of Pakistan is an organization in Pakistan which is engaged in the promotion of learning and research of biology in the region. The Biological Society of Pakistan has been acknowledged at global scale in terms of contribution in classical as well as in emerging modern technological aspects of the biological sciences. Its members mainly consist of those interested in the biological sciences.[1]
It was founded in 1954 by Dr. Sultan Ahmad, Dr. Muzzafar Ahmed, Dr. Abu Bakar, Prof. Ahsan-ul-Islam, and Prof. Waiz Hussain Bokhari.[2][3]
It is hosted by Government College in Lahore, Pakistan.[2][4](pxxxvii)
Its name is sometimes abbreviated to BSP,[5][6][7] or to BSPL, standing for "Biological Society of Pakistan, Lahore".[4](pxxiv) It is also known as the "Society at the Biological Laboratories, Government College, Lahore, Pakistan"[8][9](pi)[10][11][12](p83), or "Biological Society Lahore, Pakistan"[13].
It receives funding from the Pakistan Science Foundation, which is part of the Ministry of Science and Technology.[14]
The Biological Society of Pakistan was founded in 1949 under the auspices of the Pakistan Association for the Advancement of Science by a group of biologists mainly stationed at Lahore, Pakistan at the zoology and botany departments of Government College, Lahore, and as well as those at Punjab University, Lahore. The botany and zoology departments of Punjab University and of Government College, Lahore were housed at that time in one building that belonged to Government College, Lahore and were known as Biological Laboratories, Government College, Lahore, Pakistan.[15]
Objectives
The society was started with a charter having the following objectives:
The society shall be called Biological Society of Pakistan.
The headquarters of the society shall be located in Biological Laboratories of Government College, Lahore, Pakistan.
The object of the society shall be promotion of the cause of biological sciences in Pakistan.
The society shall try to realize these objectives by:
The publication of the journal to be called Pakistan Journal of Biology.
Holding meetings, seminars and congresses to discuss biological problems.
Creating facilities for original research in biological sciences.
This society with the above charter was registered under Societies Act XXI of 1860 of the Punjab on 10 April 1955. A total of 142 scientists from all over Pakistan were enrolled initially.[16]
Management
Mian Afzal Hussain was elected as the first president with Nazir Ahmad as secretary and Sher Ahmad Lodhi as its treasurer. This society was mainly concerned with the promotion of learning and research in biology. However, in 1955, the scientists and teachers working in the botany and zoology department at Government College, Lahore and that of Punjab University decided to rename the society the Biological Society of Pakistan and to publish a regular research journal. Ahsan-ul-Islam was assigned the job of framing the bylaws of the society and M. Saleem was assigned the task of enrolling the members of the society. Sultan Ahmad with Muzaffar Ahmad took over the responsibilities of looking after the publication of the journal.[16]
Events
The president of the society, Dr. Anwar Malik, spoke at the "First National Conference on Biology" at Government College, on March 29 or 30, 2002.[17]
The society collaborated with the Eco-Science Foundation at Government College University (GCU) to organize the third International Conference on Biosciences (ICBS-2018), focusing on sustainable food production, for three days starting on May 9, 2018. The chief organizer was GCU Professor Emeritus Dr. Ikram ul Haq, who was also the general secretary of the society.[5][6][7]
The society collaborated with the Centre for Plant Sciences and Biodiversity of the University of Swat, the Higher Education Commission, and the Pakistan Science Foundation to organize the three-day 5th International Conference on "Advances in Biosciences: Bridging the Gap between Research and Sustainable Development Goals" on May 24–26, 2022. The organizing committee for the conference included the society's President, Prof. Dr. Anwar Malik, and its Secretary-General, Prof. Dr. Ikram-Ul-Haq.[18][19][20][21]
Publications
Biologia
The society's official journal is Biologia, established in June 1955 as a collaboration between the departments of Botany and Zoology at Government College University, with its first editor-in-chief being Sultan Ahmad. It is published semi-annually, in June and December of each year. It has a print and linking ISSN of 0006-3096 and an electronic ISSN of 2313-206X. The content is in English, French, and German.[2][3][8][11][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]
It is indexed in AcadOF, Aqua Sci. & Fish Abstr., Aquacult. Abstr., BiolAb / Biol. Abstr., Bioresearch Index, BIOSIS Prev, CabiAb/CABI, ChemAb / Chem. Abstr., CSA, Curr. Adv. Ecol. Sci., CurCont, Deep Sea Res. & Oceanogr. Abstr., EMBiology, Environ. Sci. Pol. Mgmt., Field Crop Abstr., GeoRef, Ghealth, Google Scholar, Herb. Abstr., Hort. Abstr., IBIDS, IBR, IBZ, INIS AtomInd, Pakistan Current Contents, Rev. Arom. & Med. Plants, Rev. Plant Path., SCI / Sci. Cit. Ind. (coverage dropped), SCOPUS, Sherpa Romeo, Soils & Fert., Summon, VINITI, and ZooRec.[24][26][30][29]
Monographs
The society occasionally publishes monographs, the name of which is sometimes abbreviated as "Biol. Soc. Pak. Monogr."[31]
An annotated, comprehensive list of 1219 species (about being new records for the area) in standard taxonomic sequence, a bibliography, an index to genera, a complete host-index, and a large map of West Pakistan and adjoining areas. Includes 58 species of agarics and their allies.[22][35][36]
Includes 90 tables and 36 graphs about its distribution, host plants, nature and extent of damage, life and seasonal history, and natural enemies, based on 7 years of investigation from 1941 to 1947.[22]
Has two parts: pp. 1–151 "Subfamily Panicoideae" (1958) and pp. 153–388 "Subfamily Pooideae" (1959).
Contains keys to the tribes, genera and all 370 species of grasses recorded from Pakistan, with a short diagnosis for each tribe and genus, and a detailed description for each species, including the distribution record of where it is located, and the collector's name but not the collector's number. Has a "generous" number of misprints. Part 1 has 70 species in 17 genera of the Tribe Paniceae, 60 in 31 of Andropogoneae, and 3 in 3 of Maydeae, none of which are new. Part 2 has a key to the tribes of the Pooideae of Pakistan; the characteristics of each tribe are followed by a key to the genera; each genus has a description, which is followed by a key to the species if there are multiple; each species has a description and an explanation of its distribution for the area covered.[22][48][49][50][51]
An aid to the identification of saprophytic basidiomycetous Fungi (except agarics and gasteromycetes). Has many gaps in areas covered, and does not discuss frequency of occurence, ecological relationships, or economic importance. Uses the system of classification developed by Donk and Corner.[56](pi)
Contains keys and a taxonomic treatment of all groups. Includes some line drawings (usually diagnostic) and occasional photographs. Has literature references for each major division (Hemiascomycetes, Plectomycetes, Pyrenomycetes, and Discomycetes). Generally uses then-modern classification. Proposes some new combinations and taxa.[60]
Provides a general description of their morphology, physiology, biochemistry, and life-cycles, as well as descriptions of all 20 species recorded from fish in Pakistan, as well as a host-parasite list. Includes at least 38 figures, grouped in a special section.[75][76]
↑Ocean research index: a guide to ocean and freshwater research including fisheries research.. Guernsey [Channel Islands]: Francis Hodgson. 1970. p. 220. ISBN978-0-85280-230-4.
↑ 11.011.1"Pakistan: Biological Society of Pakistan". Sources of Serials: A Bowker Serials Bibliography (New York: Serials Bibliography Department, R.R. Bowker Company, A Xerox Publishing Company): 608. 1977. ISSN0000-0523.
↑"Biological Society of Pakistan". Non-governmental scientific and professional institutions and learned bodies of Pakistan. Islamabad: Pakistan Council for Science and Technology. 1986. pp. 83–86. OCLC20824045.
↑"Annexure I: list of scientific societies/learned bodies funded by Pakistan Science Foundation, Ministry of Science and Technology". The National Assembly of Pakistan debates: official report. Karachi: Manager of Publications / Pakistan National Assembly. 1989. p. 713. OCLC29800487.
↑ 34.034.1"List of Publications of the Biological Society of Pakistan". Biologia (The Biological Society of Pakistan) 44 (1&2): 296–297. 1998. ISSN0006-3096.. This volume is labelled the "Biotechnology Number".
↑Murakami, Yasuaki (August 1993). "Larger Fungi from Northern Pakistan". in Nakaike, Toshiyuki. Cryptogamic flora of Pakistan. 2. Tokyo: National Science Museum. pp. 105, 130. OCLC26988900.
↑McGinnies, William Grovenor (1967). "Pertinent Publications". Inventory of research on vegetation of desert environments. An Inventory of Geographical Research on Desert Environments, no. 6 (Vegetation). p. 120.
↑Curtin, C. B. (March 15, 1960). "16805. AHMAD, S., and R. R. STEWART. (Government Coll., Lahore and Gordon Coll., Rawalpindi.) Grasses of West Pakistan. I. Subfamily Panicoideae. Biol. Soc Pakistan Monogr. 3. 1-151. 1958.". Biological Abstracts (University of Pennsylvania) 35 (6): 1465.
↑Curtin, C. B. (July 15, 1960). "39101. AHMAD, S., and R. R. STEWART. (Government Coll., Lahore, Pakistan.) Grasses of West Pakistan. Subfamily Pooideae. Biol. Soc. Pakistan Monogr. 3(Pt. 2): 154-388. 1959.". Biological Abstracts35 (14): 3413.
↑ 60.060.1K., R. P. (November–December 1979). "Review of Ascomycetes of Pakistan, Part I". Mycologia (Taylor & Francis) 71 (6): 1280. doi:10.2307/3759121. ISSN0027-5514.
↑Bakr, Abu. "105. On a collection of Siwalik Carnivora". Proceedings of Fourth Pakistan Congress of Zoology held under the auspices of the Zoological Society of Pakistan, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, December 20-22, 1983. OCLC62447645.