The study was conducted in the Tigris River in Baghdad during May 2021 until March 2022 to follow the impact of climate change, rising temperatures, and the presence of pollutants on the dynamics of phytoplankton and some physicochemical variables from four sites. The results showed that the climatic conditions during different seasons, in addition to the nature of the sampling sites, have a clear and significant impact on the studied traits and, in turn, affect the phytoplankton community. The highest average temperature (30.67 ˚C) was recorded; the pH values ranged between 8.70 & 6.75; the electrical conductivity (1208.18-770.11 µS/cm ) and the total dissolved solids (TDS) (778.95- 439.49 mg/L) were evaluated. Upon measuring the total hardness and turbidity, a significant increase was detected at the third site during winter, amounting to 67.26 NUT and 775.46mg/ L, respectively. The dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) was recorded at the fourth site during winter (10.08- 4.67 mg/L), while the BOD ranges were 4.87- 2.51mg/ L. A benefit in the average values of plant nutrients was detected at the third site affected by the waste liquid disposal area of the Medical City Hospital Complex compared to the nutrient concentration at the other three sites, which was 3.43, 4.87, 13.50 & 409.00mg/ L for NO3 PO4 and SiO2 and S04, respectively, The study was able to classify 161 species of phytoplankton belonging to 69 genus, the largest percentage of which was Baciliariophyceae (42%), followed by Cyanophyceae (27%), Chlorophyceae (24%), Euglenophyceae (4%) and 1% for Chrysophyceae, Xanthphyceae, and Cryptophyceae. Recent years have witnessed severe climatic conditions affecting various environmental factors in the study area. The phytoplankton community has been vulnerable to their impact altering the physical and chemical properties of the river water. This indicates that the aquatic environment responds to climatic conditions.
The Tigris River is a major source of Iraq’s drinking and agricultural water supply. An increase in pollution by heavy metals can be a great threat to human and aquatic life. In this study, the pollution index (PI) and metal index (MI) were used to evaluate the status of the Tigris River in Baghdad City. Five stations were chosen to conduct the study. Five heavy metals were analyzed: iron (Fe), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), and chromium (Cr). The result of PI was ranked between “No effect to moderately affected for Fe; Slightly Affected to Seriously Affected for Pb; no effect to moderately affected for Ni, and no effect to strongly affected for Cr; only Zn was in the No effec
Aromatic hydrocarbons present in Iraqi national surface water were believed to be raised principally from combustion of various petroleum products, industrial processes and transport output and their precipitation on surface water.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were included in the priority pollutant list due to their toxic and carcinogenic nature. The concern about water contamination and the consequent human exposure have encouraged the development of new methods for
PAHs detection and removal.
PAHs, the real contaminants of petroleum matter, were detected in selected sites along Tigris River within Baghdad City in summer and winter time, using Shimadzu high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system.
Analysi
A number of aqueous samples were collected from river Tigris in Baghdad city, enriched ~1000 times using solid phase extraction (SPE), then extracted the trace concentrations of some polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) using an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) composed of 1Methylpyridinium chloride [MePy]Cl and KH2PO4 salt. High performance liquid chromatography technique coupled with ultraviolet (HPLC-UV) is used for the quantification. Extraction under the optimized conditions of pH, solvent composition, duration and temperature has given with a yield of PCB about 91%. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for analyses are 0.11-0.62 µg.L−1 and 2.67–3.43 µg.L−1 respectively with relative stan
... Show MoreThe study was conducted to measure diatom species diversity in the lotic ecosystem across the Wasit Province for 12 months. The quantitative study of diatoms (phytoplankton) was investigated in the Tigris river. The density of algae was ranged from 60989 cell×103/l to 112780.82 cell×103/l in the five sites. These algae were belonging to 39 genera. The richness index values ranged from 1.53 at site 5 in January 2016 to 6.34 at site 1 and June2015. Shannon-Weiner diversity index (H´) was 2.33 in February 2016 and 3.72 in June 2015 both values at site 3, whereas Evenness index was 0.54 at site 5 in March2016 and 0.98 at site 1 in both August2015 and May2016. The lack of homogeneity of the appearance of species indicates the dominance of a
... Show MoreAlthough many technological improvements are occurring in power production worldwide, power plants in third world countries are still using old technologies that are causing thermal pollution to the water bodies. Power facilities that dump hot water into water bodies are damaging aquatic life. In the study, the impact of the Al Dora thermal power plant on a nearby stretch of Tigris River in Baghdad city was assessed by measuring the temperature of the disposed of hot water in various cross-sections of the selected stretch of Tigris River, including measuring the thermal mixing length. The measurements were conducted in winter, spring, and summer. For field measurements, it was found that the impact of recovery distances
... Show MoreThis study included an analysis of three stations (Al Dora, Al Za'franiya, and Arab Ejbur) chosen to study the Physiochemical and microorganism (Fungi and Bacteria) loud of the Tigris River in the southern section of Baghdad city. The result of this research shows that the highest temperature recorded in summer in Al Za'franiya was 37Co, while the lowest temperature recorded in winter in Al Dora was 9Co. and the value of pH recorded the highest in summer it was 7.9 in Arab Ejbur, and the lowest value was in winter 7.1 in Al Dora regions, While Total Organic Carbon (TOC) shows the highest values found in the summer was 6.7 Mg L-1in Al Za'franiya Samples, and the lowest values were 2.0 Mg L-1in Arab Ejbur during the winter. The more f
... Show MoreIn this study water quality index (WQI) was calculated to classify the flowing water in the Tigris River in Baghdad city. GIS was used to develop colored water quality maps indicating the classification of the river for drinking water purposes. Water quality parameters including: Turbidity, pH, Alkalinity, Total hardness, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Chloride, Sulfate, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia, Orthophosphate and Total dissolved solids were used for WQI determination. These parameters were recorded at the intakes of the WTPs in Baghdad for the period 2004 to 2011. The results from the annual average WQI analysis classified the Tigris River very poor to polluted at the north of Baghdad (Alkarkh WTP) while it was very poor to very polluted in t
... Show MoreAge and growth of a population of Varicorhinus trutta (Heckel) from Tigris river at Salahuldin province have been investigated during the period from September 1999 to August 2000. A total of 156 fishes were collected from two stations at Tigris river using small meshed gill nets. The age data revealed that the species under investigation reached to a maximum age of seven years and approximately 46 cm long. The population of this species in Tigris river at the sites of study was dominated by 3 and 4 years classes. There were no marked differences in growth or longevity between the sexes. Determination of length-weight relationship revealed that the growth of both sexes in the species under investigation was allometric and the values of b
... Show MoreTotal dissolved solids are at the top of the parameters list of water quality that requires investigations for planning and management, especially for irrigation and drinking purposes. If the quality of water is sufficiently predictable, then appropriate management is possible. In the current study, Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models were used as indicators of water quality and for the prediction of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) along the Tigris River, in Baghdad city. To build these models five water parameters were selected from the intakes of four water treatment plants on the Tigris River, for the period between 2013 and 2017. The selected water parameters were Total Dissolved Solids (TDS
... Show MoreSeveral toxigenic cyanobacteria produce the cyanotoxin (microcystin). Being a health and environmental hazard, screening of water sources for the presence of microcystin is increasingly becoming a recommended environmental procedure in many countries of the world. This study was conducted to assess the ability of freshwater cyanobacterial species Westiellopsis prolifica to produce microcystins in Iraqi freshwaters via using molecular and immunological tools. The toxigenicity of W. prolifica was compared via laboratory experiments with other dominant bloom-forming cyanobacteria isolated from the Tigris River: Microcystis aeruginosa, Chroococcus turigidus, Nostoc carneum, and Lyngbya sp. signifi
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