Ecological assessment of East Hammar marsh in south Iraq using Fish Integrated Biotic Index (F-IBI)

(Abdul Razzaq al-Mahmoud and Mohammed Azhar Ali Sabunji and Fadia Khaled Radi)

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Abstract

During the last years, East Hammar marsh was subjected to penetration of Arabian Gulf salt waters. This was due to the decline in discharge rates of the Shatt Al-Arab River, heavy rains, and the discharge of drainage water from the Main Outfall Drain Canal. Therefore, the ecological status of the marsh was evaluated by applying Fish Index of Biotic Integrity (F-IBI) during the period from November 2012 to October 2013. Fishes were collected from three stations using seine net, cast net and through electro-fishing. IBI scores were calculated using 16 separate assemblage metrics based on richness, composition and of species trophic guilds. The ecological status of the marsh was found to be fair (IBI= 47.7) and was better than the status of the marsh after 2-4 years of restoration activities. The reasons for this simple improvement, despite the low number of native species and the high number of exotic species, is attributed to the high value of richness index, high proportions of marine and carnivores species, in addition to a decrease in the proportions of Carassius auratus, Liza abu and detrivores species in the fish assemblage. The rather low improvement in the situation of the marsh indicates that the environment is still fragile and requires the allocation of water share from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to restore marsh normality. Key Words: East Hammar marsh, Fish assemblage, Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI), Iraq,
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