Table of content

səhifə	5/25
tarix	24.06.2016
ölçüsü	13.41 Mb.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... 25

Importance of Species Biodiversity in Iraq

Biodiversity can be discussed at many levels (from genetic material to species to entire ecosystems) and on different scales (local, national, regional, or global). Three specific types of species relate to the global importance of Iraqi biodiversity. These include:

Migratory species -species for which Iraq is important during one point of their life cycle when they migrate through Iraq);
Endemic or semi-endemic species - species that are unique to Iraq or regional ecosystems found in Iraq; and lastly
Species that are endangered, threatened, or vulnerable to extinction.

Siberian Stonechat by K. Ararat

The IUCN Red List of Endangered Species provides conservation status on many species (both migratory and endemic) that are facing declines and potentially extinction through its on-line Red List (www.iucnredlist.org ).

The primary and most up-to-date information on species for Iraq comes from the KBA bi-annual surveys that have occurred in the country since 2005. A preliminary checklist of the Birds of Iraq has been developed (currently in press) that includes 417 bird species of which 182 are considered passage migrants to Iraq and an additional 27 are vagrant species. Of these, 18 species are considered to be of conservation concern, the majority of which are either possible or confirmed breeders (See Appendix IV). Five species of birds are either endemic or have endemic races found in Iraq (See Appendix 4).

NI is currently preparing several papers for publication concerning a wide variety of new records of bird species, new breeding records, and range extensions.

Another group that has received some recent study are fish species in Iraq. Many marine fish that are important in the fisheries of the Gulf countries utilize the Iraqi marshlands for spawning and nursing grounds making this ecosystem particularly important to regional biodiversity. Some 106 species of fish (including freshwater and marine entrant species) have now been recorded in the non-marine waters of Iraq (Coad et al. in preparation) and of these 53 species are marine fish (Abd, Rubec & Coad, 2009). According to the Freshwater Ecoregions of the World website (www.feow.org/index.php), three of these fish are endemic in the Tigris/Euphrates Basins ecoregion (WWF/TNC, 2008): Glyptothorax steindachneri; Caecocypris basim, and Iraq blind barb (Typhlogarra widdowsoni). Caecocypris basimi and the Iraq blind barb are endemic genera and species from a cave habitat near Haditha on the Euphrates, and are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Another near-endemic cyprinid, Hemigrammocapoeta elegans is probably restricted to the lowlands, as is an undescribed tooth-carp (Aphanius sp.).

Little information exists on other globally important fauna species of insects, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. KBA Surveys have collected only anecdotal information on these species to date though it is likely that more information exists in Iraq. NI is in the process of verifying the presence of the smooth-coated otter in Iraq (an endemic sub-species of this otter, Lutra perspicillata maxwelli, existed in the marshes prior to their desiccation), and the presence of the near-threatened leopard (Panthera pardus) has been verified in the border regions between Iraq and Iran.

A list of ten amphibians, ninety-seven reptiles and seventy-four mammals has been compiled from the literature by NI (Amr, 2009a & b). Many are conservation concern species and several of these may be endemic or near-endemics such as the vulnerable Mountain newt (Neurergus crocatus), the endangered Kurdistan Newt (Neurergus microspilotus) and the endangered Euphrates Softshell Turtle (Rafetus euphraticus). Twenty species of mammals are of conservation concern and Iraq has two endemic/semi-endemic species: the Mesopotamian gerbil (Gerbillus mesopotamiae) and Cheesman’s gerbil (Gerbillus cheesmani). Again, little is known about their current conservation status.

Alium sp by N. Abdulhasan

Plant species in Iraq, which were partially treated in the incomplete Flora of Iraq that was released between the 1960s and 1980s through a joint effort by the Ministry of Agriculture (IMOA) and Kew Gardens in the UK, are now subject to renewed research. KBA surveys were primarily focused on macrophytes of the Marshland areas but when surveys began in Kurdistan, Iraq in 2007, it began collection of terrestrial plants in this botanically rich area. The IMOA and Kew Gardens are now involved in an effort to complete the unpublished volumes of the old Flora of Iraq and a new effort to create a modern Flora is being lead by a joint effort between the MOE, NI/TRI, the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh’s (RBGE’s) Center for Middle East Plants, the Missouri Botanical Gardens and Old Dominion University. The RBGE did an initial review of the published books of the existing Flora of Iraq, the Flora Iranica and work by Zohary in the 1940s. They developed a draft checklist of species for Iraq, with no attempt to update the taxonomy, of over 4500 plants with a secondary list of approximately 195 endemic Iraqi species (Knees et al 2009). There are also local efforts to create regional plants lists (for example, the faculty at the College of Agriculture at the University of Sulaimani have developed a list of the vegetation in the Sulaimani District including medicinal plants).

Iraq must also consider the issue of invasive species and their effects on global biodiversity. As the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) stated, “The homogenization of biodiversity—that is, the spread of invasive alien species around the world—thus also represents a loss of biodiversity at a global scale (since once-distinct groups of species in different parts of the world become more similar) even though the diversity of species in particular regions may actually increase because of the arrival of new species.” As the birthplace of agriculture, Iraq was responsible for exporting important grain crops to the world but exported numerous invasive weed species as well. The on-line Global Invasive Species Database (www.issg.org/database/welcome/), provides a list of 25 species of micro-organisms, insects, fish, mammals, herbs, grasses, shrubs, or trees in Iraq that are either invasive to Iraq (13 species) or are native to Iraq and are invasive of other regions (22 species) as well as two invasive species for whom the bio-status is not yet specified (see appendix). These numbers are likely low estimates and with future study and survey efforts more information on invasive species to and from Iraq will be discovered.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... 25