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This study deals with the role of lower plants particularly (Ferns, Mosses & Algae) in the aquatic ecosystem within the fertile crescent in Mesopotamia. It focuses especially on the Kurdistan of Iraq, which might be one of the most productive and fertile areas in the whole Middle East. Furthermore, it is an endeavor to show the environmental impact and assess the effect of climatic and non-climatic parameters on non-flowering plants in the region. Knowledge about the presence and distribution of a such group of plants in this part of the world is so poor, particularly with respect to ferns, makes one to draw attention the necessity of such a study. This investigation is an attempt to reduce the existing gap of knowledge on lower plants in the region; furthermore, it will undoubtedly gravitate attention to the need for much more scientific information in this area, in years to come.
Scientific Consultant in the Presidency of Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Abbas M. Ismail
College of Science for Women, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
Bushra A. Hamdi
Pharmacy College Kurdistan, Howler Medical University, Iraq
*Address all correspondence to: mauloodbahram@gmail.com
1. Introduction
It is a well-known fact that about 60% of the total global freshwater within our planet is confined to about 263 rivers within 145 countries, making up around 40% of the global population [1].
Unlike the Middle East, aquatic plants have gotten much more scientific attention, for planning and managing various water bodies in Europe and states. Lower plants (macrophytes and microphytes) have been widely used as ecological indicators in various parts of the world, also for the conservation and protection of natural resources as well as biodiversity [2, 3, 4].
The impacts of the continuous establishment of large dams on inland waters had become quite evident all over the world, as their total number approached 50,000 dams between 1950 and 2017 (a tenfold increase) when the number was only 5000 dams 60 years ago, whereas the total global irrigated area has only doubled, as it raised to around 280 million hectares only [5, 6].
Key climatic and non-climatic parameters affecting the distribution and abundance of aquatic lower plants, in both running and standing water bodies, have been thoroughly reviewed by [7]. They explained their potential role and application, to point out indicators for expected ecological changes in any natural ecosystem [8]. Aquatic plant studies with respect to concerning environmental impacts have been mainly confined to flowering plants [9, 10], whereas lower plants (ferns, mosses, and even algae) had obtained little attention and were poorly dealt with for environmental monitoring [11]. Higher plants rather than lower ones have been much more widely applied as criteria for any environmental changes or pollution [10].
The distribution and abundance of aquatic plants, in general, depend on three main factors, which are biogeography, climatic mainly (hydrology and temperature), and geomorphology [7]. Eutrophication, on the other hand, is known to cause an intense shading by phytoplankton and filamentous algae in inland water bodies that result in the decline of aquatic plants [12, 13].
Using aquatic lower plants as an environmental monitoring tool because of their sensitivity to any ecological changes has been the concern of many scientists all over the world [7, 11, 14, 15]. Lower plant species in general have been used as a reliable indicator of any environmental impact or changes. However, almost all studies ended up with around (50) criteria for ecological indicators that have been formulated throughout four sets of parameters. In 1998, Mc geoch had adapted all to only nine. This finally ends up with seven criteria for climatic and no climatic impact in any ecosystem. Almost all published articles books and websites up to 2018 were summarized and tabulated [14, 15]. However, out of the total published papers in this respect none were from Iraq or Kurdistan and only (17) were from Asia [14].
A part from general climatic and non-climatic impacts on the environment in the region, fertile crescent or even the whole of Mesopotamia had recently also faced serious water shortages and desertification [1, 18, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21]. Figure 1(A-C).
Figure 1.
Area under investigation: (A) showing ancient Mesopotamia, (B-C) recent political map all three above maps were taken from Google: Link: Mesopotamia fertile crescent map - Bing images.
The establishment of hundreds of dams in Iran and Turkey also changed river flow direction in both countries, leading to the degradation of freshwater in the region and the desiccation of wetlands in Kurdistan or even the whole of Iraq [18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28]. Besides that deforestation is quite evident as the remaining forest area had fallen to only 10% in contrast to before 1961 in the Kurdistan region of Iraq [20, 29].
Much water in Iraq has been and still is wasted naturally through the direct flow to the gulf or evaporation. Such status is definitely because of a lack of a water harvesting system, almost absence of a good irrigation plan, and finally, imperfect water management and administration. The most obvious outcome of such environmental impact is the desiccation of southern Iraqi marshes by more than 65% over the last 50 years [3, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47].
The environment program of the United Nations in 2018 indicated that Iraq is losing every year around 25.000 hectares of arable land [47]. However, continuous degradation of the fertile crescent is expected in years to come if no consideration or precaution and action have been taken.
Lower plant studies [Pteridophytes (ferns), Bryophytes (mosses), or Green Thallophyte (algae)] and their role in environmental changes and impact are quite evident in a different part of the world as it was and still is the concern for many scientists [11, 14, 48]. However, such studies in Mesopotamia including Iraq, so far, seem to be confined to classification, habitat, and taxonomy, whereas their role in environmental integrity, climate change, environmental monitoring, and ecological indicators as well as biodiversity and their association with other vegetation remain vague and need much more investigation in this part of the world.
Non-flowering plant studies in Mesopotamia and Kurdistan go back to the end of the eighteen century [32, 37], whereas their role in the environment remains vague and needs much more investigation in this part of the world. However, more than 20 species of pteridophytes and around 180 Bryophyte species have been recorded so far from Iraq and Kurdistan, but almost all studies have been concerned with their distribution habitat, morphology, and taxonomy [34, 42, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53]. None of these studies dealt with monitoring or biodiversity and did not refer to any ferns in aquatic ecosystems apart from (Salvinia & Marsilia) in southern marshes of Iraq and only recently Azolla has been also recorded [54]. Figure 1(A-C).
Pteridophytes, which represent a great and huge number of plants, are least explored as an ecological indicator in most parts of the world. The majority of the papers showed potential use of Pteridophytes as ecological indicators and forwarded helpful criteria. It became evident that more investigation and research about such criteria particularly to use pteridophytes an ecological indicator are needed [7, 55].
Bryophytes on the other hand are commonly used as ecological indicator for the presence or absence of any pollutant since they are known to be among a stress tolerance group of organisms, within which two very widespread ones (Fontinalics & Playtypnidium) are the most common [11]. However, only the first one is common in Kurdistan. In fact, none of the published papers concerned with liverwort and mosses in the region had referred to their role in environment, although the total recorded number of the species so far exceeded 170 species [49, 51].
Almost about 3000 species of algae have been recorded in Iraq as whole and handers of scientific paper had appeared [41]. However, quite a few found to deal with biodiversity and ecological indicators, whereas most of it was concerned again with habitat taxonomy and morphological description. Such studies hopefully will extend to deal with algal role on climatic impact and environmental monitoring as well. That will undoubtedly contribute to fill up part of the existing gap of the knowledge about lower plants in this part of the world.
Pteridophytes or fern studies in Iraq and Kurdistan in particular are scarce [53, 56]. However, still quite few papers on their distribution and medicinal role have been published recently [33, 34, 35, 43]. Fern role as a potential ecological indicator or on monitoring water ecosystem in Kurdistan or the whole of Iraq has not been taken enough attentions, in contrast to other parts of the world [34]. However, it is quite evident that scientific studies on pteridophytes in general, according to the published articles, have been and still are poorly explored all over the world [7, 14]. Still few species were found to be considered as ecological indicator and have shown to have impact on water quality in the ecosystem [55], but none of these species have been reported from Iraq or Kurdistan. Fern species in Mediterranean countries traditionally have been used and applied to remedy for quite a number of diseases such as kidney stone and spleen complains, but only recently few scientific investigations on this respect took place in the region Figure 2 [35].
Figure 2.
Common ferns in Kurdistan of Iraq. All photos are taken personally by the author (B.K. Maulood).
Systematically, only 8861 fern species have been identified and registered all over the world so far, they found to belong to 300 genera from 33 families and 7 orders only [46]. In contrast, only 18 genera belonging to 11 families and six orders of pteridophytes have been recorded in Iraq [34, 35, 43, 52, 53, 54].
Out of the total (22) species of Iraqi Pteridophyte, only two were confined to the southern Iraqi marshes (Salvinia & Marsilia), whereas all others were reported from Iraqi Kurdistan. The four most common ferns in the region seem to be Adiantum capillus-veneris and Equisetum ramosissimum, Cheilianthes pteridioides, and Asplenium ceterach, whereas Phyllitis scolopendrium is found to be restricted only to high elevation that approached 1000 m.a.s.l or more in mountainous part. (Table 1 and Figure 2).
Nu.
Taxa
Distribution
1
Adiantum capillus-veneris L.
Tweela, Biyarah, Jarmo near chamchemal, Aqra, Hauraman, Qaradagh, Gali Ali Beg, Beekhal, Sartaq, Ahmed Awa, Rawanduze, Khanaqin.
2
Anograma leptophylla (L.) Link
Gai Ali Beg, Zar gali, Meedan, Nawgali, Banibee.
3
Ceratopteris thalictroides (L.) Borgn.
Auzair, Qurna, Suthern marshes of Iraq.
4
Cosentinia vellea (Aiton) Tod.
Gali Ali Beg, Beekhal, Malakan, Meedan, Bawanoor, Sartaq.
5
Oeosporangium persicum (Bory.) Vis.
Bawanoor near Kalar city.
6
O. pteridioides (Richard) Fraser-Jenk. & Priyer
Sinjar, Haji Umran, Makhmor, Zar gali, Bawanoor, Banibee.
List of Pteridoflora and their geographical distribution in Iraq.
In fact, none of these investigations had referred to fern’s role on climatic and non-climatic impacts in the area, so it is quite evident that the role of fern species in the environment of Iraq or Kurdistan has not been thoroughly studied yet. This gap of knowledge in Mesopotamia remains to be filled in the future. However, such investigations and field studies are an open yard for scientific projects in years to come.
Mosses and liverwort as aquatic macrophytes (primary producers) are important components of some lentic and lotic freshwater ecosystems. The effect on the biodiversity and water chemistry, through changing the environmental condition and the availability of resources [3], in fact sometimes they even modify the water flow direction [36]. A review of monitoring heavy metal concentration through liverworts and mosses has been well revised by [57, 58]. However, bryophytes species (mosses and liverwort) as a monitor of environmental contamination have been also reviewed by [59, 60].
Recently, scientific studies indicate that bryophytes are going to become the target of investigation in Global Change Studies, particularly with respect to Climate Worming, as well as their effect on biodiversity. Their presence, distribution, and population density, as well as, their fertility are common parameters that are related to and applied for monitoring different ecosystems [36, 38, 60].
The effect of climatic and non-climatic factors on any ecosystem has to be considered well before an event takes place [44]. Aquatic bryophytes are found to be a quite fit example for such expectation. Quite many species of mosses and liverwort had shown to have a high tolerance for various sorts of pollution and contamination; therefore, using such species as biomonitoring the indicators of any impacts and bioavailability of any parameter have been widely proposed recently [44]. However, Bryophytes species have been already used for the last 30–40 years for monitoring water quality [11, 61].
Such a process of biomonitoring an aquatic ecosystem has been already applied in Europe by using bryophytes in order to monitor tens of heavy metals. The process involves field observation and analysis of native species of mosses or active monitoring depending on plant transplantation to the ecosystem for a limited period of time. In order to keep the biodiversity in the area, one should consider the impact of native and non-native macrophyte species on the ecosystem and the importance of system management [3].
Plant macrophytes are known to be sensitive to a particular threshold of climatic and non-climatic conditions. They potentially seem to be a good indicator of climatic impacts, changes, or hazards [7]. The use of Bryophyte species in monitoring programs is increasing because of the wide range of their anatomical, morphological, and physiological properties that have been extensively reviewed by (Zechmeister & Moser, 2003).
Bryophytes (mosses and liverwort) in fact are green Cryptogams comprising about (25,000) species, whereas mosses only make up around (15,000) species. Generally, this group of lower plants (Bryophytes) is known to be the major component of various different types of ecosystems from peat lands to the boreal forest floor [62]. Although sphagnum bags cover about 1–2% of the global land surface, many mosses are associated with the moist environment or freshwater, but no marine bryophytes so far have been recorded [48].
In Iraq, so far, only 209 species of Bryophytes have been recorded [51] from which only 16 species belong to liverworts, whereas the list includes 193 species of mosses. The most common ones in the area are illustrated in (Figure 3), one of the most comprehensive investigations on Iraqi bryophytes is that of [49] as they described all identified mosses and liverwort species in Iraq up to 1960. They gave a good description of all taxa. Also, they forwarded the key of identification for all 54 genera and 145 species besides their habitat and environmental condition of the localities.
Figure 3.
Most common bryophytes (Mosses & Liverworts) in the Kurdistan part of Iraq. Photos are taken from reference no: 4 in the text with a written permission from the author B.A. Basheer Al-Ni’ma.
The detailed investigation of Bryophytes species and their influence on climatic or non-climatic impact, as well as their role in ecological monitoring for the best of our knowledge, have not been thoroughly dealt with in Mesopotamia (Iraq or Kurdistan) yet.
However, such a gap in knowledge on the role of bryophytes in the environment in this part of the world (Mesopotamia) needs to be fully filled in years to come by local or other scientists.
The use of algal species as environmental indicators goes back to the beginning of the eighteen century, whereas studies along this line are still proceeding. It is found that some algae in general have the ability to tolerate various levels of pollutants in nature. Undoubtedly, this property is behind using algal species to test for detecting eutrophication or any change in the aquatic ecosystem [45]. However, such phenomena nowadays are quite well developed and become evident from the appearance of an algal community in any ecosystem.
Collections and surveys of Handel-Mazzeti [32] from Mesopotamia and Kurdistan along the Tigris and Euphrates may be regarded as the first attempt at algal study in the area [37]. In fact, phycological studies in Iraq have got much more attention in comparison to other lower plants. However, investigations on algae as a whole and phytoplankton, in particular, have been the concern of many research and postgraduate projects for the last 50 years. In parallel with the establishment of various universities and institutes in other parts of Iraq apart from Baghdad as well as a scientific research center in Baghdad, also postgraduate (MSc. Ph.D.) projects were behind the development of algal studies in Iraq as a whole particularly in Kurdistan and Basrah in the south [41, 63]. All these investigations and projects had extended to cover various lotic and lentic water bodies including springs, impoundments, southern marshes Shatal-Arab beside the twin rivers (Tigris & Euphrates) and their tributaries [39, 40].
Round. [45] referred to the important role of aquatic plants and algae in particular in the community structure of any aquatic ecosystem. He showed that in general, algal species do influence habitat complexity and biodiversity and do affect other organisms.
Nowadays, studies on the potential impact of native and non-native plant species in any area have been well progressed, such studies on habitat complexity, particularly in an aquatic ecosystem in various parts of the world, have been well reviewed and demonstrated recently [3], whereas to the best of our knowledge, no such studies had been found yet in Iraq.
More than 2600 algal taxa [41] have been recorded so far from Iraq up to 2013. Hundreds of scientific papers have been published in various local and international journals concerning the lower plants particularly algae [39]. Diatoms are found to be the most dominant group.
Among all algal taxa making up about 44% of the total, whereas green algae contributed to about 30%, which makes it the second dominant group within algal flora in Iraqi inland waters. The most common taxa are illustrated in Figure 4 and Figure 5 and a number of master’s degrees and tens of Ph.D. thesis have been performed [39, 40], on algae in general and phytoplankton in particular over the most aquatic ecosystem in Iraq since 1974 on the word. But, in fact, almost none of which had referred to their role on biodiversity or climatic impact on the ecosystem, the case, so far, remains vague and unclean in the region as a whole.
Figure 4.
Illustration of common non-diatom flora in Iraq. (1) Nostoc linckia. (2) Lyngbya aestuarii. (3) Lepidolaena taylorii. (4) Oscillatoria curviceps. (5) Oscillatoria limosa. (6) Oscillatoria tenius. (7) Aphanocapsa rivularis.. (8) Merismopedia glauca. (9) Chlamydomonas polypyreoideum. (10) Pandorina morum. (11) Stigeoclonium lubricum. (12) Oedogonium cardiacum (13) . Oedogonium plurisporum (14) Pedistrum boryanum. (15) P. duplex. (16) Sphaerozosma sp. (17) Dictyosphaerium ehrenbergia (18) Cladophora glomerata (19) Cosmarium (20) Synura uvella. (21) Scenedsmus opoliensis. Lla (22) Ceratium hirundine (23) Bulbochaete sp. (24) Chara sp. all photos are taken by the author (B.K. Maulood) personally.
Figure 5.
Most common diatoms from Iraqi inland water (1–2) Nitzschia sp., (3–4) Caloneis sp, (5)- Tabularia sp. (6)- Diatoma sp, (7–8) Cymbella sp,(9) Stephanodiscus sp (10) Rhoicosphenia sp., (11–12) Gomphonema sp. (13–14) Navicula sp. (15) Cyclotella sp. All photos are taken by the author (B.K. Maulood).
However, the existing gap of knowledge with respect to the lower plant role (fern, mosses, and algae) on environmental impact (climatic and non-climatic) is undoubtedly needed to be filled particularly when water policies and dams in Mesopotamia Basin seem to be interacting. Various water projects in Turkey and Iran have been performed that will threaten the life in the area. Water shortage, dryness, and climate impacts are almost certainly expected in near future.
All these are behind the expected severe environmental degradation in the region. In fact, the country had faced and still is facing negative climatic and non-climatic impacts with respect to poor water quality, quantity, soil salinity, air, and pollution [20, 22, 26, 28]. Therefore, much more action and detailed studies are an urgent request in Mesopotamia in general and particularly in Iraq and Kurdistan.
A part of the recent global impact of climatic and non-climatic factors on the environment is the consequence of the lack of a good irrigation system, imperfect water management policy, as well as the absence of water harvesting techniques in the whole of Iraq and Kurdistan in particular. Still changing river flow direction and the establishment of hundreds of dams in Turkey and Iran remain the main reason for the degradation of the quality and quantity of freshwater bodies in the Kurdistan in the north, in fact, the effect of such impact is extended to far south part as the desiccation of southern Iraqi marshes is already a quite visible fact.
The knowledge on the status of lower plants in this part of the world still is vague, in spite of listing around 3000 taxa of algae in inland waters of Iraq with only around 190 identified species of Bryophytes in the whole country, in contrast to tens of thousands of known species belonging to this group of lower plants globally. However, unbelievably, only 22 fern species are recorded so far from Iraq, whereas Kurdistan is known to possess quite a fit and suitable habitat for such plants.
Biologically and even ecologically Kurdistan part of Iraq may be named a virgin area yet for exploration and tracing the environmental impact of climatic and non-climatic factors on such a group of lower plants. This gap of knowledge in this region needs to be filled in years to come by the local or international scientists.
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Written By
Bahram K. Maulood, Abbas M. Ismail and Bushra A. Hamdi
Submitted: 10 August 2022Reviewed: 10 November 2022Published: 14 December 2022
Open access peer-reviewed chapter
