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.
Studying the past for its importance and connection with the present is reflected in a relative scale in the light of data and thought of the predecessors of a great nation like the Mesopotamia, where its civilization flourished and rose since the ancient times, which inspires the present with inherited meanings that might be an entity or recognized symbols in the establishment of a vision, system or architectural building. The researcher has crystallized the description of the past to enhance the vision of the present within what is required by the interior design specialty about the historical origins of education and the design of schools in the Mesopotamia, in addition to its ethnic and environmental specificity and the moral content
... Show MoreAim: Rats are accused in disseminating many zoonotic diseases. This study aimed to isolate and identify bacteria from internal organs of rats captured in Baghdad City, Iraq. Materials and Methods: A total of 120 black rats (R. rattus) were trapped from different areas in Baghdad city. Rats were kept in individual plastic cages for 3 h before euthanizing. Deep pharyngeal swab, intestinal content, urine, and pieces of the liver and spleen, lung, kidney, and brain were obtained aseptically. The specimens were inoculated into peptone water and incubated at 37°C for 24 h for enrichment. A loopful of each specimen was then subcultured onto MacConkey Agar, Blood Agar, and Mannitol Salt Agar. CHROMagar O157 H7 and CHROMagar Listeria were u
... Show MoreIn spite of economic importance of sugar cane and sugar beet as they described as industrial crops they still face decreasing rates of production and productivity in Iraq , and their production was not able to satisfy the local industrial demands for sugar . Thus this study aimed at studying and analyzing, production and productivity of sugar cane and sugar beet in Iraq and this has been done by using non serial data that can be obtained from official offices in Iraq . The area and production of sugar cane in Iraq recorded positive annual growth rates during 1970- 1978 which were 6% and 5% consequently , while the productivity of sugar cane recorded at the same duration of time negative annual growth rate which was 1% , while they recorded
... Show MoreThe parasite tapeworm (Raillietina echinobothrida) belonges to the class Cestoda, it is responsible for nodular tapeworm disease in poultry .The aim of this study was to determine tapeworm parasites infections in Columba livia from two markets in the province of Baghdad for the period from May to December 2014. From a total of thirty five sample of Columba livia were randomly selected and then examined the elementary canal of these samples. The present study showed that the collected rock pigeon were found six infected with the cestode Raillietina echinobothrida with infection rate (17.14%). The statistical analysis for the characters of the cestode showed significant differences in all recipes, but there were no significant difference
... Show MoreIn this study, a total of 209 individuals of leeches were collected from Al-Hindyia River / Babil Province. 116 individuals were identified as Erpobdella octaculata (Linnaeus, 1758), 50 individuals as Erpobdella punctata (Leidy,1870) and 43 individuals as Hemiclepsis marginata (Müller, 1774). Four samples were collected monthly during a period from February to June 2018. Some physical and chemical water properties were also examined, including air and water temperature, potential of hydrogen pH, Electrical Conductivity EC, Total Dissolved Solid TDS, Dissolved Oxygen DO, and the Biological Oxygen Demand BOD₅. Air and water temperature were r
... Show MoreThis study was initiated to examine the tomato-infecting viruses belonging to the Tobamovirus and Potexvirus genera in Iraq. Field observations and surveys were carried out for three successive cropping seasons (2020/21 to 2022/23) in selected tomato production areas. The purpose was to identify the main viruses associated with tomato epidemics and assess the impact of different tomato cultivars on disease occurrence. A total of 700 tomato leaf samples were collected from seven governorates (Baghdad, Diyala, Babylon, Najaf, Kerbala, Nasiriya, and Basrah) and tested using pathogen-specific immunostrip kits. The survey showed a presence of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV), Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), Pepper mild mottle virus (
... Show MoreThe current study aims to assess zooplankton diversity in Bahr Al-Najaf depression using diversity index, specimens were collected from five sites at Bahr Al-Najaf depression, Iraq during April 2017 to March 2018.
Forty-eight taxa of zooplankton were identified including 26 taxa to Copepoda, 17 taxa belonged to Rotifers and 5 taxa to Cladocera: Copepoda was the most dominant group (54.2%); Rotifera comprised (35.4%); Cladocera comprised (10.4%).
Relative abundance index of zooplankton showed Copepodite and nauplii of Harpacticoid, Hexarthra mira, Daphnia sp., Harpacticoid sp., and Copepodite and nauplii of Cyclops were more abundant. According to the constancy index
... Show MoreCryptosporidiosis is an intestinal protozoan parasitic disease that infects human and animals, caused by apicomplexan parasite belong to the genusof Cryptosporidium. The current study was done to record the infection rate of cryptosporidiosis in human and cattle, and genotype the clinical isolates of Cryptosporidium in Baghdad Province. A total of 265 stool sample were collected (150 from human and 115 from cattle) during the period from December 2016 to the May 2017. Cryptosporidial infection was detected using modified acid fast stain. DNA of the parasite was extracted from oocysts of positive fecal samples and nested PCR method was used for partial 60 kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene amplification then sequence analysis for selected samples.
... Show MoreBackground: Oral cancer is a highly lethal and disfiguring disease. Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity constitutes about 90% of all oral malignancies. The aims of the study was to achieve an epidemiological description of the oral squamous cell carcinoma in Iraq in general and in Iraqi governorates except Kurdistan region retrospectively during period 2001-2013 Materials and Methods: Data were collected from department of oral and maxillofacial pathology, college of dentistry, university of Baghdad, Nuclear medicine and radiotherapy hospital, Iraqi cancer registry center, Main hospitals in Baghdad and Iraqi governorates, Private labs. for histopathological examinations. The descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used
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