A PhD thesis in the Department of Fish and Marine Resources - College of Agriculture - University of Basrah discussed the "relationship of submersible aquatic plants to the living mass of zooplankton in some wetlands north of Basra Governorate".
The student Azhar Makki Nazzal’s thesis, which was supervised by Prof. Naim Shend Hammadi and Prof. Dr. Dunia Ali Hussein, aimed to identify the dynamic links between submersible aquatic plants and zooplankton and their environment, as living organisms depend on their environment and on each other to produce a stable system, which are characterized by their functional diversity, which is mainly a guide to understanding the nature of the work of that system. The roles of aquatic microorganisms and plants in aquatic ecosystems are closely related and should be studied simultaneously rather than in isolation.
The study was conducted on three environments that included the southern part of each of the Eastern Hammar and Chabayish marshes, as well as the southern part of the Euphrates River.
The study included measuring a number of environmental factors, as well as measuring the live mass of submerged aquatic plants, and studying the live mass of zooplankton, which included the numbers of zooplankton and their live mass as wet weight and dry weight, and measuring the volume of displaced water.
During the study, the researcher also used some environmental indicators for the environmental assessment of the studied environments, including the organic pollution index OPI and the nutritional status index TSI and their relationship to the living mass of submerged aquatic plants, as well as the nutritional status guide for water bodies based on zooplankton (TSI ZOO). This study is the first local study to estimate the level of nutritional status of water using zooplankton.
The study recommended monitoring and managing water quality, as regular monitoring of water quality variables is necessary to identify any changes or trends that may affect the health of water bodies. Decision-makers should develop effective management strategies for water bodies, with the need to develop plans to secure fixed water shares to ensure the protection of aquatic ecosystems from deterioration. Humans are considered the most vital factor in bringing about environmental change, positive or negative, and a comprehensive understanding of the health of those systems, including those related to aquatic plants, submersibles, zooplankton, and other major components of the aquatic ecosystem. This will provide a more comprehensive view of the dynamics of ecosystems and support decision-makers in the sound and sustainable management of water bodies.
