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Indicator: Biodiversity in freshwater ecosystemsFlora - The biological diversity of flora in Iraqi freshwater ecosystems is, as noted for the Biodiversity of Terrestrial Ecosystems indictor above, partially treated in the original Flora of Iraq. NI has a provisional checklist of 49 wetland flora seen in the Mesopotamian Marshlands and riparian areas between 2005 and 2007 (see table below), but survey work was usually conducted in mid-summer and more frequent survey work would be required to fully characterize the wetland plants of the area.
Habitats – As in the Biodiversity of Terrestrial Ecosystem Indictor, the main source of information on freshwater habitats comes from the Mesopotamian Marshlands Habitat Project of NI, which focused on developing a classification system for the proposed Mesopotamian Marshlands National Park in the Central Marshes. This project took place between 2007 and 2008, and although not completed, a provisional habitat classification system was created, which was elaborated primarily for water and marsh habitats (see table below). Provisional Iraqi Marshlands Habitat Classification System
Freshwater habitats are not limited to the Mesopotamian marshlands but are common throughout the extensive Tigris-Euphrates River Basin as shown in the plate below. There are likely pockets of valuable habitat throughout the upper and lower basin, particularly on isolated river islands but these are poorly studied in Iraq. Tigris Euphrates Basin showing wetlands and Important Bird Areas (Source: WRI, 2003) 
Fauna- The IUCN Red List provides a list of freshwater species that have been assessed on the basis of their conservation status. The numbers of assessed species are listed below by class.
The characterization of marine and freshwater fisheries and other aquatic organisms has been subject to study under the KBA project. Local studies have also been conducted particularly at the Marine Science Center, Basrah University as well as other research institutions in Iraq but little information is available on these for this report. There is a list of Iraqi phytoplankton/algae that is comprised of about 2500 species, which is updated on a yearly basis. There is no comprehensive zooplankton list but the KBA Project has maintained a list of approximately 240 species. A list of 277 freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates species have been identified within the KBA Project (in surveys from 2005 to 2009). The Baghdad Natural History Museum and NI maintain a list of amphibians but each includes only ten species. As was stated for the Biodiversity of Terrestrial Ecosystem Indicator, NI has developed more comprehensive information on birds. In addition, through the water quality program of the KBA Project, additional work was done on plankton species and benthic macroinvertebrates that have generated partial species lists. The most comprehensive work to develop a comprehensive checklist is currently underway for benthic species through an agreement between NI and the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in the U.S.
Indicator: List and total number of threatened species by group in freshwater ecosystems.As mentioned above, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) conducts periodic assessments of species and provides information on them on its on-line Red List (www.iucnredlist.org). The following is a list of the total number of Iraqi freshwater species that have been assessed by species group and the total number of species that have been assessed with the status of Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near-threatened or Extinct. IUCN Red List of Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near-threatened & Extinct Freshwater Species of Iraq
A checklist of fish “Species of Special Concern” exists (see table below), which includes several marine-related species that can be found in freshwater habitats in Iraq. A full list of freshwater fish of Iraq has recently been published by Coal (2010). NI maintains a provisional list of fish species seen in the Iraqi marshlands. The table below provides information and the economic importance and proposed priorities for conservation action for sixteen fish species. Importance and potential conservation priority for 16 Iraqi freshwater & marine fish “Species of Special Concern” (Sources: Abd, Rubec & Coad, 2009).
Fish species and number of sites where they have been observed and/or reported for major Mesopotamian Marshland areas
* Species here are listed alphabetically versus taxonomically. KBA surveys in 2007 and 2008 found that commercial fishing was taking place at the three large lake sites in the north (Darbandikhan, Dukan and Mosul Lakes), and are key sites for economically important fish (Barbus esocinus, B.xanthopterus, B.grypus, Capoeta damascina, Cyprinus carpio and Carassius auratus). There are some occasional smaller scale fisheries along major rivers (e.g. Altun Kopri Marsh along the Lesser/Little Zab River). KBA surveys in the south have documented extensive fisheries in the Mesopotamian marshlands. In 2009, NI researchers looked at fish in key sites in central and southern Iraq and found that Tharthar Lake was important both in terms of number of fish species and fish weights and lengths (see figure below). 
The total length (cm) of the sampled fish by fish species for some selected sites (Nature Iraq, 2009).
Indicator: Biodiversity in marine ecosystemsVery little information exists on marine flora, habitat, and fauna in Iraqi coastal and marine areas. The IUCN Red List provides a list of marine species that have been assessed on the basis of their conservation status. The numbers of assessed species are listed below by class.
Two marine related Important Bird Areas/Key Biodiversity Areas in Iraq are Khor Az Zubayr/Khor Abdullah. These have been partially assessed under the KBA Project for Birds but other marine species have not been surveyed.  
Threatened Marine Important Bird Areas in the Middle East (source: World Resources Institute - PAGE, 2000)
Indicator: List and total number of threatened species by group in marine ecosystems.The IUCN Red List lists the following Iraqi marine species that have been assessed by species group and the total number of species that have been assessed with the status of Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near-threatened or Extinct. IUCN Red List of Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near-threatened & Extinct Marine Species of Iraq
The table below provides information on three marine fish “Species of Special Concern” but there are likely several other important fish species that use Iraqi territorial waters and coastal regions. Importance and potential conservation priority for 3 Iraqi marine fish “Species of Special Concern” (Sources: Coad et al. in preparation, Rubec and Coad 2007).
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Available information &/or datasets: |
Information/Data Sources: |
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KBA Project (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009) Fish Species checklist |
Nature Iraq Coad, B (in preparation). |
Indicator: Water Quality- Nutrients, Physical & Chemical Parameters, BOD, heavy metals, and other pollutants
For the water quality work in the KBA Project, several benthic macroinvertebrate community indices were used as recommended by Miller (2008):
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Taxa Richness– A reduction in taxa richness typically indicates pollution. -
Taxa Evenness – How balanced is the community? A healthy community is characterized by a diverse number of taxa that have abundances somewhat proportional to each other. -
EPT% – How abundant are the mayflies (Ephemeroptera), stoneflies (Plecoptera), and caddisflies (Trichoptera)?
Biological conditions described in Miller (2008) were determined as follows:
Non-impaired site: A non-impaired site has a benthic community comparable to other undisturbed streams within the region.
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High Richness (high number of species/taxa). -
High Evenness (individuals are evenly distributed among the taxa). -
Sensitive species are well represented.
Moderately Impaired site: Moderately impaired sites are characterized by reduced taxa richness, in particular the EPT taxa.
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Less EPT% (less sensitive species are more dominant)
Severely Impaired site: A severely impaired site is one in which the benthic community has undergone a dramatic change.
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Low Richness (low number of species/taxa) -
Low Evenness (numbers can be high “dominance” or low “paucity of organisms”) -
Low EPT% (community is dominated by pollution tolerant species)
Diversity, richness, and evenness have been calculated by using CANOCO 4.5 Package. (Ter Braak and Šmilauer, 2002).
Additional water quality tools used in the KBA surveys in Iraqi Kurdistan were the Pollution Tolerance Index (PTI) (Mitchell and Stapp, 2000) and Pollution Index (PI) (Waterwatch South Australia, 2004). These indices were modified based on the species observed in Kurdistan-Iraq waters. Tolerance values of benthic macroinvertebrates, which are obtained by determining the tolerance values of organisms to various types of stressors and calculating an average value (range from 0 which is very sensitive to 10 which is very tolerant), were extracted from many sources such as: Stribling, Jessup, White, Boward, and Hurd (1998); Barbour Gerrisen, Snyder, and Stribling (1999); Davis, Minshall, Robinson, and Landres (2001); Bode, Novak, Abele, Heitzman, and Smith (2002); Klemm, Blacksom, Thoeny, Fulk, Herlihy, Kaufman and Cormier (2002); Mandaville (2002); Chessman (2003); Ode (2003), and Wilton (2004).
Individuals were then classified according to their tolerance values into four main categories (NSW Water Bug Survey, 2003):
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Very sensitive; sensitivity values ≈ 10 & 9; tolerance values ≈ 1 & 2 -
Sensitive; sensitivity values ≈ 8, 7, & 6; tolerance values ≈ 3, 4 & 5 -
Tolerant; sensitivity values ≈ 5, 4, & 3; tolerance values ≈ 6, 7 & 8 -
Very tolerant; sensitivity values ≈ 2 & 1; tolerance values ≈ 9 & 10
Finally, water quality was determined according to the following five grades:
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Modified Pollution Tolerance Index (Modified PTI) grades: |
Modified Pollution Index (Modified PI) grades: |
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Excellent water quality (29+) |
Excellent water quality (111+) |
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Very good water quality (23 – 28) |
Very good water quality (74 – 110) |
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Good water quality (17 – 22) |
Good water quality (56 – 73) |
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Fair water quality (11 – 16) |
Fair water quality (45 – 55) |
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Poor water quality (0 – 10) |
Poor water quality (0 – 44) |
Included below is an example of benthic macroinvertebrate biotic indicators results in the upper Diyala (Darbandikhan Lake) Basin for the summer of 2009.
Water quality ranks in Diyala River Watershed (Darbandikhan Basin) sites during Kurdistan KBA - summer surveys 2009, depending on benthic macroinvertebrates’ results.
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Available information &/or datasets: |
Information/Data Sources: |
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Some information about surface runoff at basin scale and water consumption are available KBA Project (2005-2009) WQ data for selected areas Physical parameters available from water gauging stations There are likely individual studies at localized sites |
Nature Iraq Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources – Water Control Data Center Water Mini Master Plans Ministry of Environment Ministry of Health Iraqi Universities, Colleges of Science |
Indicator: Soil Quality
According to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (1998), soil biodiversity is the mix of living organisms that interact with one another, plants, and other small animals to form “a web of biological activity” that make up “the most biologically diverse part of Earth.” Soil quality can be an important tool to determine land use management policy, limit pollution, and decrease loss of soils (top soil, erosion, and/or desertification). Iraqi lands can be classified into eight soil types based on the American classification system (USDA, 1975, 1994 & 1998):
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Agricultural kinds:
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Type 1: Excellent agricultural lands - 0.6%. -
Type2: Good agricultural lands - 38.7%. -
Type 3: Fair for agricultural lands - 43%. -
Type 4: Limited land ability for agriculture - 7.7%.
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Non agricultural lands:
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Type 5: Non agricultural lands in the present - 6.5% -
Type 6: Seasonally grazing lands - 83.4 -
Type 7: Limited grazing lands - 3.4%. -
Type 8: High lands out of agricultural uses - 6.7%.
Not a great deal of information exists on Iraqi soils. The following MOA 1957 map provides the only available comprehensive overview.
Exploratory Soil Map of Iraq. Map 1 (Buringh, 1957)
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Available information &/or datasets: |
Information/Data Sources: |
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Global Assessment of Soil Degradation (GLASOD). |
UNEP - ISRIC (International Soil Reference and Information Centre). |
Indicator: Ethnic & Language Groups
Diversity in Iraq is reflected in Iraq’s people, religions, and communities. The country is made up of several ethic and language groups. According to the CIA Factbook (2010), Iraqis are 75%-80% Arab, 15%-20% Kurdish, Turkoman, Assyrian, and 5% other. Arabic, Kurdish (the official language in the Kurdistan region), Turkoman (a Turkish dialect), Assyrian (Neo-Aramaic), and Armenian are the main languages.
There can be additional divisions within one language group. Kurdish has two main dialects, Kurmanji, which is spoken in Turkey, Syria, and the most northern areas of Iraq and Iran, and Sorani, which is spoken in western Iraq and other areas of Iraqi Kurdistan, which have been labeled 'Northern' and 'Central'. And there are extensive influences on Iraqi language from Iran and Turkey and other language groups.
The following map provides an overview of the enthno-religious groups and major tribes of Iraq. There are several nomadic or Bedouin tribes in Iraq that are not well documented. All these groups have differing attitudes and customs regarding the importance of and uses for the biological diversity of the country.
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Available information &/or datasets: |
Information/Data Sources: |
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Annual Abstract of Statistics (2006 – 2007) Census Information (2009) |
Central Organization of Statistics and Information Technology (COSIT) CIA World Factbook |