Ecosystems provide humans with services that include benefits from food, fresh water, climate regulation, and socio-economic assets. The Mesopotamian marshlands are among the largest wetlands in the Middle East and they provide various benefits. However, ecosystem services of the Marshlands are consistently undervalued in national economic analysis and decision making. This study focusses on the Central Marshes, the first National Park in Iraq, and is the first attempt at valuing a series of ecosystem services from a valuable natural ecosystem in Iraq. We adopted the Toolkit for Ecosystem Services Site-Based Assessment (TESSA) for the determination of biophysical and economic values of services at the site level. Data on key ecosystem services (as determined by 30 interviews with residents of the Marshes) included the trading of fish, harvested plants, water buffalo milk, and fodder were collected across six months in 2014. We valued the ecosystem services within the CM (40,000 ha) over a 6-month period to have a total value of 860,078.23 USD. This estimated total value was the sum of 86,637.25 USD from harvested plants, 551,334.80 USD from trading fish, 167, 303.70 USD from trading water buffalo milk, and 54,804.00 USD from trading fodder. The average income per individual in Iraq in 2014 was 6720 USD (World Bank data - https://data.worldbank.org/country/iraq): thus, the CM provided an average salary for 256 people. Our results provided greater understanding of the ecosystem services contributed by the Central Marshes and has highlighted the crucial role of nature in supporting sustainable well-being for humans living in the area. In addition, the results can be used to enhance local policy, to aid management plans of the National park, and to estimate lost and damage that could result from impact of climate change on the area.
The Iraqi marshes are considered the most extensive wetland ecosystem in the Middle East and are located in the middle and lower basin of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers which create a wetlands network and comprise some shallow freshwater lakes that seasonally swamped floodplains. Al-Hawizeh marsh is a major marsh located east of Tigris River south of Iraq. This study aims to assess water quality through water quality index (WQI) and predict Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) concentrations in Al-Hawizeh marsh based on artificial neural network (ANN). Results showed that the WQI was more than 300 for years 2013 and 2014 (Water is unsuitable for drinking) and decreased within the range 200-300 in years 2015 and 2016 (Very poor water). The develope
... Show MoreThe Iraqi marshes are considered the most extensive wetland ecosystem in the Middle East and are located in the middle and lower basin of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers which create a wetlands network and comprise some shallow freshwater lakes that seasonally swamped floodplains. Al-Hawizeh marsh is a major marsh located east of Tigris River south of Iraq. This study aims to assess water quality through water quality index (WQI) and predict Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) concentrations in Al-Hawizeh marsh based on artificial neural network (ANN). Results showed that the WQI was more than 300 for years 2013 and 2014 (Water is unsuitable for drinking) and decreased within the range 200-300 in years 2015 and 2016 (Very poor water). The
... Show MoreThe utilization of artificial intelligence techniques has garnered significant interest in recent research due to their pivotal role in enhancing the quality of educational offerings. This study investigated the impact of employing artificial intelligence techniques on improving the quality of educational services, as perceived by students enrolled in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Baghdad. The study sample comprised 379 male and female students. A descriptive-analytical approach was used, with a questionnaire as the primary tool for data collection. The findings indicated that the application of artificial intelligence methods was highly effective, and the educational services provided to students were of exceptional quality.
... Show MoreAl Huweizah Marsh is considered as the largest marsh at the southern part of Iraq. About one third of the marsh is located within the Iranian territory. Iran began to construct earth dikes along the Iraqi-Iranian international borders to separate the Iranian part of the marsh. The electrical conductivity, EC, value was adopted to be the indicator for the water salinity within the marsh. A steady two-dimensional water quality routing model was implemented by using the RMA2 and RMA4 softwares within the SMS computer package to estimate the distribution of the
EC values within the marsh seasonally during the wet, moderate and dry water years. The EC distribution Patterns were estimated considering the expected two cases of the marsh futu
Abstract
This research aims to assess and measure the quality of health services provided by the Baghdad Educational Hospital using five dimensions of 5Qs , Developer model by (Zinelidin), 2006), the problem of the research is to try to determine the quality of health services provided at the hospital as well as the investigation of the existence of the elements of quality contribute to achieve the requirements of customers and their needs, and used for the purposes of this research two approaches, first used Applied Research to 5Qs dimension model and use the Checklist as a Key tool to collection and analysis of data and the second descriptive analytical me
... Show MoreResearch and Development Programs Effectiveness in the Central Library of Baghdad University
University libraries seek to evaluate their performance in order to correct their path and adjust it in the right direction. Therefore, they use (performance indicators), which are a tool used by institutions to evaluate the weaknesses and strengths in their work and the reasons for failure to achieve some goals sometimes. They convert (goals, procedures and actions) into a formula that can be measured mathematically, which contributes to the library determining the gap between its current performance and what those libraries are supposed to be on, clarifying the path that the library is following, controlling the risks that may befall it, and thus enhancing the process of continuous improvement to avoid areas of failure and weakness becaus
... Show MoreComplexity is the inherent characteristic of contemporary organizations. It is characterized by the intertwining and expansion of its relations, by the severe disorder and rapid change in its environment, which makes it suffer from a state of uncertainty in determining the direction of its future or the assessment of the rules governing its paths. All organizations tend to evolve with increasing sophistication, And to take measures that contribute to the simplification of the system as it moves towards complexity, allowing the administration to easily control its movement and directions, and the problem of complexity in the university is based on the entanglement and overlap in the goals and processes betwe
... Show MoreThis research aims to identify the effective role of self-managed teams in the quality of service performance in the directorate of Ramadi municipality. The problematic nature of our research involves this main question of the effective role of self-managed teams in the Municipality of Ramadi in improving the services of performance quality to the beneficiaries from the Directorate service. The importance of this study lies in the role played by the work teams in the organizations that excel in their field, the attendant of the changes in the leadership, administrative roles of the institutions, and teams leaders, will be achieved by the self-managed teams in improving the quality of the service provided by the institution to whi
... Show More