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.
Study of three dimensional seismic data of Merjan area-central Iraq has shown that the Jurassic – Cretaceous succession is affected by faulting system. Seven major normal faults were identified and mapped. Synthetic traces have been calculated by using sonic and density log data of the well Me-1.Two exploration wells were drilled in the area Me-1 and Wkf-1 wells, the distance between them is 15.82 km. Discussion about the effect of this system on the sedimentary package has been presented. The tight faults that couldn’t be distinguished it on seismic sections were determined using seismic attributes. They have different strike and limited in their vertical and horizontal extension. They are system facilitates the movement o
... Show MoreInspite of the renovation and development that occurred on the
mathematics curricula and its teaching styles (methods), the teaching methods and the evaluation styles that the teachers of the country
follow are still traditionaL It depends on the normal distribution approach and the principle of individual differences among students in
addition the traditional tests that are used to evaluate student achievement are built on standard-referenced system. These types of tests focus on comparing the student's performance with his peers'
performance. The limitary of this type of evaluation in diagnosing the
students' acquisition of the stu
... Show MoreThis research aims at shedding light on the concept of insurance awareness and clarifying its role on marketing insurance services of a sample of (100) employees in the National Company for Insurance. Questionnaire is used as a main instrument for collecting data and information from the sample. Their answers were analyzed by using arithmetic means, standard deviation, centesimal weight, and the correlation coefficient ( , F, t) tests .The research reached several conclusions of which:1.The sample member's response to insurance awareness and marketing insurance services factors was in the medium level.2.There was a positive relationship of a moral sign between insurance awareness and marketing insurance services, that correlation coeffic
... Show MoreHeavy metals concentration in the soils and sediments has increased worldwide during the last century as a result of the rapid increase in population which combined by an increase in human activity as agriculture, industrial and many other activities. Ten soil and three river sediment samples were collected from 10 main sampling stations at Shatt Al-Hilla River from Sada area to Dora Bridge in Babylon province. The chemical analysis of the sedimentation sample in the laboratory included pH calculation, electrical conductivity (EC) (Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), organic matter (OM), and heavy metals as (Mn, Ni, Cr, Zn, Cu, Co, Pb, Cd, As and Fe). Indirect geochemical background (IGB) of heavy metal was calculated by the iterative
... Show MoreThe materials of soil were affected by multi reasons; such as human activities, floods, tidal waves, ... etc. The change of the soil contents could be measured through different indexes; such as electric conductivities, salinity, concentration of the heavy elements, and concentration of essential elements ... etc. The land cover is affected by natural influences, like tidal energy, which plays a negative role in the salinization of land adjacent to the coasts, causing a problem for soils in all its details represented in changing of the dissolved elements in soil. One of the most important natural factors that cause soil salinity is human activity in all its forms, and one of the most important causes of salinity is the phenomenon o
... Show MoreMersing is one of the places that have the potential for wind power development in Malaysia. Researchers often suggest it as an ideal place for generating electricity from wind power. However, before a location is chosen, several factors need to be considered. By analyzing the location ahead of time, resource waste can be avoided and maximum profitability to various parties can be realized. For this study, the focus is to identify the distribution of the wind speed of Mersing and to determine the optimal average of wind speed. This study is critical because the wind speed data for any region has its distribution. It changes daily and by season. Moreover, no determination has been made regarding selecting the average wind speed used for w
... Show MoreThe study aimed to describe the anatomical, histological, and histochemical structure of the proventriculuc of adult male Eurasian marsh harrier, Circus aeruginosus (Linnaeus, 1766) (Accipitriformes, Accipitridae). Six birds were used for this study. The histological sections of proventriculus were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, periodic acid Schiff, and alcain blue. The proventriculus, representing the upper stomach, appeared as a conical structure with a thick wall connecting the caudal end of the thoracic esophagus to the gizzard. It had a light brown color. Microscopic examination revealed that the proventriculus wall consists of the outer tunica serosa, the tunica muscularis, tunica sub mucosa, and the inner tunica mucosa.
... Show MoreThe Research topic seeks to analyze the "political risk and its component Terrorism Index," which consists of five indicators index, a number of terrorist operations, and the number of dead and wounded, and the size of the physical losses, based search sub-index analysis of material losses for the index terrorism and its impact on the indicators listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange Finance. As for the practical side, it has been use style gradient unrestricted and link the sample represented by ten banks listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange. was Statement the correlation and interaction of variables of the studySearch results produced that the volume of material losses is the most important indicator in the influential force and it explain a v
... Show MoreThis study deals with microfacies analysis, diagenetic facies, environmental interpretations related to sequence stratigraphy for Early – Middle Miocene in selected wells within Balad (Ba-X) and East Baghdad (EB-Z) oil fields.
Seven major microfacies were recognized in the successions of the study wells, these facies were used to recognize six facies association (depositional environments) within the study oil fields: deep marine, toe of slope, open marine, restricted interior platform, evaporitic interior platform and brackish interior platform. The facies associations interpreted were based on texture and obtainable fauna.
The Early - Middle Miocene succession was deposited during two depositional cycles as a t
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