Open AccessEcological assessment of East Hammar marsh, Iraq using a number of ecological guides
Author(s) -
Abdul-Razak Abdul-Razak
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of king abdulaziz university-marine sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.106
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1658-4325
pISSN - 1012-8840
DOI - 10.4197/mar.26-2.2
Subject(s) - marsh , trophic level , ecology , species richness , geography , trophic state index , water quality , ecological indicator , environmental science , biology , phytoplankton , wetland , nutrient , ecosystem
The ecological status of the East Hammar marsh was evaluated by using a number of ecologicalguides: water quality index (WQI), Carlson trophic state index (TSI) and fish integrated biological index(F-IBI) during the period from November 2012 to October 2013. The results revealed that the annual valueof WQI varied from 51.1 (marginal) for historical data before desiccation to 67.8 (fair) for data afterinundation. The marsh was evaluated to be mesotrophic (TSI= 42.0). IBI scores were calculated from 16separate assemblage metrics based on the fish species richness, species composition and trophic guilds. Theecological status of the marsh was found to be fair (F-IBI= 47.7) and was slightly better than the status ofthe marsh after 2-4 years of restoration activities. The rather low improvement in the situation of the marshindicates that the environment is still fragile and requires the allocation of water share from the Tigris andEuphrates rivers to restore marsh normality.