Birds of prey (Raptors) are top predator avian species that many migrate annually through Mesopotamian marshes in southern Iraq toward their wintering grounds in Arabia and Africa, while others are breeding residents; however, information on their current status is scarce. From January 2016 to April 2019, a total of 20 field expeditions were conducted in the geographical zone of the Mesopotamian marshes, wetlands of international importance. The survey covered the Central Marshes, Al-Hammar and Hawizeh Marsh. One of the objectives of the field surveys is to list the raptors species that wintering and/or migrating through the Mesopotamian marshes and to understand their current spatial and temporal distribution. In the present study, a total of 32 species of diurnal raptors are recorded through intensive field observations, reviewing literature records, and personal communications of unpublished data. Moreover, eight species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN Red List are recorded which highlight the ecological importance of the Mesopotamian marshes as a major stopover site for globally threatened raptors. Besides species persecution, observed threats such as habitat destruction, climate change, and pollution were severely influencing birds of prey communities in the Mesopotamian marshes which warrant further conservation actions.
One eighth of the bird species in the world is considered globally threatened; the avifauna of Iraq comprises 409 species and is considered as the major indicator of the health of Iraq’s biological resources. The Iraqi geography falls into five main regions among which is the desert and semi-desert areas which cover much of the country area. Al-Najaf desert is still one of the poorly known regions from the biodiversity point of view. Birds of conservation concern are detected in Al-Najaf desert during 31 field trips to 20 sites conducted from August 2018 to April 2020, (citing literature records, and personal interviews with locals).The factors caused the bird numbers to decline in Al-Najaf desert include hunting and trapping, logging,
... Show MoreWater pollution is an issue that can be exacerbated by drought as increased concentrations of unwanted substances are a consequence of lower water levels. Polluted water that flows into natural marshlands leads to the deposition of pollutants in the interior of the marsh. Here we present evidence that the interior of the Central Marsh (CM) in southern Iraq suffers from higher levels of pollution than areas closer to the source of water entering the marsh (the Euphrates River). A 1.7m embankment that halts the flow of the Euphrates is only infrequently breached and so the CM is effectively the terminal destination of the waters (and their associated pollutants and agricultural waste) flowing from the West of Iraq.
A range of water
... Show MoreThe Barremain-Aptian succession represented by two types of deposits, Clasits deposits of Zubair Formation. This formation is the most significant sandstone reservoir in Iraq, Deposited in fluvio- deltaic, deltaic and marine environments during the Barremain to Early Aptian age.
The area of study is located in the Mesopotamian Zone at S
The Barremain-Aptian succession represented by the Clasits deposits of Zubair Formation. This formation is the most significant sandstone reservoir in Iraq which deposited in fluvio- deltaic, deltaic and marine environments during the Barremain to Early Aptian age. The area of study is located in the Mesopotamian Zone at Southern part of Iraq which represented by five oil fields (Nasira, L
... Show MoreThe CenomanianÐEarly Turonian reservoirs of the Mishrif Formation of the Mesopotamian Basin hold more than one-third of the proven Iraqi oil reserves. Difficulty in predicting the presence of these mostly rudistic reservoir units is mainly due to the complex paleogeography of the Mishrif depositional basin, which has not been helped by numerous previous studies using differing facies schemes over local areas. Here we present a regional microfacies-based study that incorporates earlier data into a comprehensive facies model. This shows that extensive accumulation of rudist banks usually occurred along an exterior shelf margin of the basin along an axis that runs from Hamrin to Badra a
The purpose of this article is to identify and evaluate the importance of birds of the genus Merops (European Bee-eater -Merops apiaster and Blue-cheeked Bee-eater -Merops persicus) in Uzbekistan, as well as to develop recommendations aimed at solving some problems associated with its conservation. As a result of the study, in the aspect of biocenotic relations, the natural significance of these species was revealed. The economic value is determined and analyzed in beekeeping farms. From the study of the remains of food contained in the stomachs, throats and nests of M.apiaster, a preliminary list of the main species of the food spectrum has been compiled. Based on the bioacoustic repellent "Korshun-8"
... Show MoreThe Central Marshes are one of southern Iraq's most important wetlands and ecosystems. A study on evaluating soil quality and water quality in terms of chemical properties at certain sites in the southern Iraqi Central Marshes has been conducted to investigate their types and suitability for enhancing the agricultural reality of most field crops. Soil and water samples were collected from 15 sites and transferred to the laboratory. In the lab, the following parameters were determined: electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved salts (TDS), organic materials (OM), pH, gypsum, and total sulfate content (SO3). The tests conducted on the samples indicated that it could be said that the soil of the Central Marshes
... Show MoreThis study was contacted on Orchidaceae, it is a second largest family in flowering plants, comes
after Asteraceae, and approximately has 25,000–30,000 species in 750–800 genera in the world.
This study included 10 genera, Anacamptis (five species), Androrchis (two species),
Cephalanthera (one species), Dactylorhiza (three species), Epipactis (two species),
Himantoglossum (two species), Limodorum (one species), Neotinea (one species), Ophrys (seven
species ), and Orchis (four species). The name abbreviation of authors of plant names follows the
International Plant Name Index (IPNI) (https://www.ipni.org/). Images of type collections of most
species were checked on virtual herbaria (https://he
In this study, different oil fields in Mesopotamian basin, southern Iraq (Siba, Zubair, Nahr - Umr, Majnoon, Halfaya, Kumait, and Amara) were selected for studying burial history. PetroMod software 1D was used for basin constructing and to evaluate burial history of the basin. Results showed that in the upper Jurassic to the Recent, Mesopotamian Basin exhibited a complex subsidence history over a period of about 152 Ma.There are different periods of subsidence: high, moderate, and slow. High subsidence occurred at upper Jurassic- mid Cretaceous and at Miocene due to Tectonic subsidence. Slow subsidence occurred at upper Cretaceous and moderate subsidence at Paleogene. In the upper Jurassic, rapid subsidence is driven under the effect of
... Show MoreThe Mesopotamian marshlands faced a massive destruction from many years and this lead to effect to ecosystem. In this study a survey was made on the physical chemical and heavy metals characteristics and microbiological analysis of AL Chibaish marsh during the two months. Water analyses revealed unacceptable values for almost all physiochemical and biological properties, according to WHO standard limits for drinking water. Almost all major ions and heavy metal concentrations in water showed a distinct decreasing trend at the marsh outlet station compared to other stations. In general, major and minor ions, as well as heavy metals exhibit higher concentrations in location 1 than in location 3. The concentrations of heavy metals in water show
... Show MoreThis study analyzes how to make use of the resources in the marshlands of Iraq and how to utilize them, especially after the water returns to these areas and they are revitalized. We take an example of AL- Saheen Marsh and plan an ideal tourist resort there. This example can further expand to include other parts of the marshlands. The resort will utilize the local environment and tourist characteristics as it will have a feel and architectural resemblance to the houses and buildings that are currently built there. In addition the transportation methods will be the same as those used by the locals. Yet the resort will still posses all the facilities required by a modern tourist resort that includes all the services that will make
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