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.
This study aims to suggest an alternative to the use of quality agricultural soil in the brick industry (Iraq). The Late Miocene claystone bed in the Injana Formation in central Iraq was targeted through the study of 18 exposed sections that were sampled by using the trench sampling method. The claystones are characterized by quartz (36.4%) followed by calcite (32.8%), quartz (36.4%) feldspar (2.6%), gypsum (1.3%) and dolomite (0.7%), kaolinite (10.5%), illite (7.7%), chlorite (6.7%), palygorskite (6.0%) and montmorillonite (0.7%). New thermal mineral phases were formed at 950°C, including diopside (62.9%), quartz (18.4%), wollastonite (8.28%), akermanite (7.6%), Anorthite (6.25%), Nosean (4.9%), gehlenite (3.75%) and Lazurite (3.1
... Show MoreMyriophyllum spicatum distribution in Al-Burgga marsh, Hor Al-Hammar was described in relation to some of the physical-chemical properties for its habitat (water depth, light penetration, water temperature, water salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, Ca+2, Mg+2, reactive NO2=, reactive NO3-1, and reactive PO4-3) during 2011, seasonally. CANOCO ordination program (CCA) was used to analyse the data. Its vegetation cover percentage was with its peak at summer, its value was 90 %, while the lowest value was 20 % in winter. Statistically, Positive relationships for WT, sal., Ca+2, Mg+2, reactive NO2=, reactive NO3-1, and reactive PO4-3 with the vegetation cover percentage were observed. While, negative relationships for WD, pH, and DO with the ve
... Show MoreThe aim object of research is to show the computerized services library of Salahaldeen University in Erbil city in Iraq, so the research treatment all side of library such as building, location ,staff ,finance, resource collection and services ,we refer to. problem which face library such as administration and finance through the using Of case study method, reference source ,meeting , online comment and data record .The study focus develop in library departments, users services, management ,staff, the resource collection, building and location.
The study ending with many results and recommendation to develop the library services by using modern Information system to all users inside and outside the university and link them with other
Geodiversity is the variety within abiotic natural elements that include: rocks, minerals, landforms, soil types, and water resources. Recently ecologists and naturalists recognized that there is close relationship between geodiversity and ecosystems. Huwaiza marsh is located south eastern Iraq within Lower Mesopotamian plain. The main rock bed units which crop out north east of the studied area comprises many types of rocks: conglomerate, sandstone, mudstone, siltstone and claystone belong to Bai Hassan, Mukdadiya and Injana Formations. The general elevation of the area ranges around 5 meters (a. s. l.) near the marsh and increase northeast to more than 100 meters (a. s. l.) and the Land forms are: cuesta, oxbow lakes
... Show MoreThis study focused on benthic algae (epipelic and attached algae on concrete lining stream) in Bani-Hassan stream in Holly Karbala, Iraq. The qualitative and quantitative studies of benthic algae were done by collecting 240 samples from five sites in the study area for the period from December 2012 to November 2013. Also, the environmental variables of the stream were examined in term of temporary and spatial. The results showed that the stream was alkaline, hard, oligohaline and a well aerated. The total nitrogen to the total phosphorus (TN: TP) ratio indicates nitrogen limitation. 129 species of benthic algae belonging to 57 genera were identified. Bacillariophyceae (diatoms) was the predominant taxon (95 species) followed by Chlorophyce
... Show MoreThe climate is one of the natural factors affecting agriculture, and the success of the cultivation of any agricultural crop depends on the nature of the prevailing climate in the area of its cultivation. If the main elements of climate: temperature, rain and humidity, affect the various agricultural activities that can be practiced, and the stages of growth of agricultural crops and also determine the areas of spread. When the climatic requirements of any crop are well available, its cultivation is successful and comfortable. The research starts from the problem of spatial variation of date production spatially in the study area and the reason for choosing dates because of its economic importance, so the research will be based on
... Show MorePurification of fifteen NaCl samples from natural and different area in the middle and south of Iraq are prepared and studied the structural characteristics of samples by powder X-ray diffraction analysis at ð›Œ=1.542Ã…. The present work considered the specific activities of naturally occurring radioactive materials in salt samples, which are measured and analyzed using high resolution HPGe system. Also, the radiological parameters have been considered in this work. The average specific concentration (in Bq.kg-1) of the salt samples is found 16.864.92 for 226Ra, 5.972.05 for 232Th and 9.852.8 for 40K, respectively, which are below the national levels, 40Bq.kg-1, 30Bq.k
... Show MoreIraq has had more than 10000 km2 of geographical low land areas called marshes.
Enriched with great diversity of natural vegetation and wild life. With increasing
climatic changes and passive man interference phenomena, vast areas of these
marshes have deteriorated through drying out processes at an alarming rate.
According to recent survey achieved by several Iraqi ministries marshes areas have
decreased to about quarter of theS original area. The statistical data and geospatial
information are weak. We monitored, assessed the environmental processes and
detect changes using digitally processed landsat MSS (Multispectral Scanner) and
Spot (System Pour Observation) satellite images that transform haur Ibn Najm
The gravity anomalies of the Jurassic and deep structures were obtained by stripping the gravity effect of Cretaceous and Tertiary formations from the available Bouguer gravity map in central and south Iraq. The gravity effect of the stripped layers was determined depending on the density log or the density density obtained from the sonic log. The density relation with the seismic velocity of Gardner et al (1974) was used to obtain density from sonic logs in case of a lack of density log. The average density of the Cretaceous and Tertiary formation were determined then the density contrast of these formations was obtained. The density contrast and thickness of all stratigraphic formations in the area between the sea level to t
... Show MoreThe gravity and magnetic data of Tikrit-Kirkuk area in central Iraq were considered to study the tectonic situation in the area. The residual anomalies were separated from regional using space windows method with space of about 24, 12 and 10km to delineate the source level of the residual anomalies. The Total Horizontal Derivative (THD) is used to identify the fault trends in the basement and sedimentary rocks depending upon gravity and magnetic data. The identified faults in the study area show (NW-SE), less common (NE-SW) and rare (N-S) trends. Some of these faults extending from the basement to the upper most layer of the sedimentary rocks. It was found that the depth of some gravity and magnetic source range 12-13Km, which confirm th
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