Diversity and Conservation of the Mesopotamian Marshes of Southern Iraq: A Survey of a World Heritage Site

Abstract

Mesopotamian Marshes are the most significant wetland ecosystem in Iraq and an internationally significant location of migratory waterbirds in the West Asian- East African Flyway. In this paper, extensive surveys of waterbirds were examined during 12 months long (way, October 20236 September 2024) on three large marsh systems (Central, Hawizeh, Hammar). With the standardized number of counts of 48 sites (576 individual counts), we recorded 127 species (134,682 individuals) that belonged to 18 different families. All systems had species accumulation curves that approached asymptotes, which showed sufficient effort in sampling. There was a significant difference in the diversity of Shannon (H') between marsh systems (ANOVA: F=8.42, p<0.01): Central Marshes (H'=3.84) > Hawizeh (H'=3.62) > Hammar (H'=3.21). Twelve conservation concern species were listed with three being Vulnerable (Marbled Teal, White-headed Duck, Ferruginous Duck). Peak of Winter was 68,420 people (January). The species richness decreased by about 23 percent and winter populations by about 65; but due to methodological variations, the two cannot be exactly compared to past data in the 1970s (Scott 1995). The marshes maintained [?]1 percent of flyway populations of eight species and so met the qualifications of international status. The threats that are still present are the decrease in the water inflows, illegal hunting, and degradation of habitats. These results compose a very important base line information on conservation management of this UNESCO world heritage site.