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.
Phlebotomus papatasi sand fly is the main vector of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (ZCL) in Iraq. The aim of this study was to assess and predict the effects of climate change on the distribution of the cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) cases and the main vector presently and in the future. Data of the CL cases were collected for the period (2000-2018) in addition to sand fly (SF) abundance. Geographic information system, R studio and MaxEnt (Maximum entropy niche model) software were used for analysis and predict effect of (elevation, population, Bio1-19, and Bio28-35) on CL cases distribution and SF occurrence. HadGEM2-ES model with two climate change scenarios, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 were used for future projections 2050. The results showed th
... Show MoreThis study was conducted to make an inventory of the monocot plants that were collected before and now which stored in the herbarium of Iraq Natural History Museum for identifying them. The herbarium contains avery large and varied number of plants from different parts in Iraq and for different and varied environments. The plants collected, arranged and identified using taxonomic keys specific to these families. Currently, the plant samples are in the herbarium of Iraq Natural History Museum to be an important scientific reference for all researchers inside and outside the country. With the identification of botanical scientists for each family, gender and year in which it was first diagnosed.
The banking system considered as one of the most important intermediate circle between creditor and debtors it is mean the most important funding rings in economic activity, whether finance takes the a consumer or investment form and therefore it is the main base to stimulate economic activity both on the demand side, both consumption and investment and therefore of the main motivating factors for economic growth.
The banking system depends in achieve its goals on the grants and loan recovery, or what is known credit process and according to what the importance referred to the role of the banking system, it is important to ensure the safety and efficiency of the mechanisms of banking device and safety is
... Show MoreThis article presents test results documentation for four grouted ground anchors embedded in sandy soil. Three anchors were trial, while one was a working anchor. One trial anchor is instrumented with eight resistance-type strain gauges glued on the corrugated pipe and embedded within the grouted body. An acceptance test was made for all anchors to determine the working load. Acceptance criteria suggested by the Post-Tensioning Institute were applied, and the working anchor did not pass the creep criterion, so it was taken out of service. The strain measurements indicated that the compression stresses were generated along the free length, while the tension stresses were generated alon
The anatomic characteristics of the leaves of 22 taxa of Stachys L. representing seven of the currently recognized sections distributed in northern Iraq, were examined. The study did not found any variations in the characteristics of the stomata system of the leaves.Therewere variations with a good taxonomic value in other anatomic characteristics.Thevariations in characters of the mesophyll tissue in S.kurdica var.brevidens Bom ex Bhattacharjeewas bifacial but in S.kurdica var.kurdica Boiss. & Hohen.was unifacial .The study also found that the taxa S.benthamiana Bioss., S.lanigera (Bornm.) Rech.f. andS.kotscyi Bioss. with 3 vascular bundles in the middle vein while the taxa S.ballotiformis Vatke., S.megalodonta Hausskn. &Bornm.exP.H.Davis
... Show More(1) Background: Plant flavonoids are efficient in preventing and treating various diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of hesperidin, a flavonoid found in citrus fruits, in inhibiting lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced inflammation, which induced lethal toxicity in vivo, and to evaluate its importance as an antitumor agent in breast cancer. The in vivo experiments revealed the protective effects of hesperidin against the negative LPS effects on the liver and spleen of male mice. (2) Methods: In the liver, the antioxidant activity was measured by estimating the concentration of glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT), whereas in spleen, the concentration of cytokines including IL-33 and TNF-α was measured. The in vitro expe
... Show MoreThe research aims at measuring the extent of the relationship and influence of the indicators of the Core competencies of the audit firms and offices in the Earning Quality of the private banks listed in the Iraq Stock Exchange under audit. The research community represents 38 banks. The sample of the research has been approved only 10 banks continue to issue their financial statements for the period (2007 – 2017), in addition to the audit offices assigned to audit these banks, which amounted to 14 companies and auditing offices. John's (1999) model revised by Kothari et al., (2005) was adopted to measure the Earning Quality by finding discretionary accruals and non-discretionary accruals, to measure the Core competencies indicators ,
... Show MoreThis study aims to test whether the institutions listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange have a significant correlation between the level of conservative accounting practice with the level of market share returns during the Coronavirus pandemic period as one of the policies to confront the economic repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, the sample included institutions listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange during the 2019 and 2020 years, i.e., the period before the Coronavirus pandemic and during the Coronavirus pandemic for the purpose of comparison. The market value to book value model was used, and the study found that conservative institutions had achieved the highest level of market share prices compared to non-conservat
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