The Impact of Quarrying on Aquatic Flora within the Middle Course of Sirwan River, Iraqi Kurdistan Region
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5965/223811712442025899Keywords:
anthropogenic processes, riverscape, species diversity, aquatic plants, geomorfologiaAbstract
The Sirwan River, a tributary of the Tigris River, flows from the northwest of Iran and continues through the Iraqi Kurdistan region. It has undergone significant changes due to human activities over the past three decades. This research examines the geomorphological and biological changes from 1990 to 2022 caused by man-made disruptions. Fieldwork was conducted to determine and assess the occurrence of aquatic plants in ponds formed by quarrying along the middle course of the river, along with measurements of the ponds' chemical and physical properties. Satellite imagery from Landsat 5, Landsat 7, and Landsat 8 was used to analyze land cover changes over the study period. The images indicated substantial impacts of quarrying on land cover, with an increase in barren land at the expense of vegetation cover. According to the results, throughout 33 years, the vegetation cover declined and was replaced by bare soil. There was a clear, strong correlation between the two land cover classes: vegetation cover vs. barren soil (r=0.983, p < 0.05). Also, the results revealed significant changes in aquatic plant diversity between pond habitats and running water. We are recommending that monitoring of weed species distribution in the Sirwan River helps to mitigate ecological imbalances and protect both living and non-living river components. Additional research is required to identify strategies for minimizing the environmental impact of quarries in this region.
Downloads
References
ABBAS MK & ABDUL-RAZZAK M. 2006. Adequacy determination of irrigation water in Upper Diyalah River Basin/Iraq. IRAQI J Agric Sci 37: 1–12.
ABDULLAH EJ. 2013. Evaluation of surface water quality indices for heavy metals of Diyala River-Iraq. J Nat Sci Res 3: 63-70.
ABDULLAH TO et al. 2019. Hydrogeochemical Evaluation of Groundwater and Its Suitability for Domestic Uses in Halabja Saidsadiq Basin, Iraq. Water 11
AL-FARAJ FAM & SCHOLZ M. 2014. Assessment of temporal hydrologic anomalies coupled with drought impact for a transboundary river flow regime: the Diyala watershed case study. J Hydrol 517: 64–73
AL-JAWADI AS et al. 2023. Sustainability of the Tigris River Between Environmental Conditions and Oppressive Quarrying in Northern Iraq. In: IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. p 12017
AL-KHAFAJI MS & AL-CHALABI RD. 2019. Assessment and mitigation of streamflow and sediment yield under climate change conditions in Diyala River Basin, Iraq. Hydrology 6: 63.
AL-MUSAWI N. 2018. Evaluation water quality of Diyala River in Iraq using Bhargava method. In: MATEC Web of Conferences. p 5001
ALI S et al. 2016a. GIS based soil erosion estimation using EPM method, Garmiyan Area, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. J Civ Eng Archit 10: 291–308.
ALI SS et al. 2016b. Geomorphology of Garmiyan Area Using GIS Technique, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. J Earth Sci Geotech Eng 6: 63–87.
ALKARADAGHI K et al. 2022. Geospatial Technique Integrated with MCDM Models for Selecting Potential Sites for Harvesting Rainwater in the Semi-arid Region. Water, Air, Soil Pollut 233: 1–22.
AZIZ SF et al. 2023. Water Harvesting in the Garmian Region (Kurdistan, Iraq) Using GIS and Remote Sensing. Water 15
BENDIXEN M et al. 2021. Sand, gravel, and UN Sustainable Development Goals: Conflicts, synergies, and pathways forward. One Earth 4: 1095–1111.
BHATTACHARYA RK et al. 2019. Geomorphic response to riverine land cover dynamics in a quarried alluvial river Kangsabati, South Bengal, India. Environ Earth Sci 78: 1–18.
BRAUER CJ BEHEREGARAY LB. 2020. Recent and rapid anthropogenic habitat fragmentation increases extinction risk for freshwater biodiversity. Evol Appl 13: 2857–2869.
BRAUNS M et al. 2022. A global synthesis of human impacts on the multifunctionality of streams and rivers. Glob Chang Biol 28: 4783–4793.
BUDAY RT. 1980. The Regional Geology of Iraq: Stratigraphy and Paleogeography, 1st edn. D.G Geo. Surv. Min. Invest. (SOM), Baghdad, Baghdad
CARPENTER SR. 2005. Eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems: bistability and soil phosphorus. Proc Natl Acad Sci 102: 10002–10005.
CASTALDINI D et al. 2019. Geomorphology of the central Po Plain, Northern Italy. J Maps 15: 780–787.
CHARLTON R. 2007. Fundamentals of fluvial geomorphology. Routledge.
CHEE JD. 2015. Pearson’s product-moment correlation: Sample analysis. Res Gate 4: 4–90.
DEL TÁNAGO MG et al. 2015. Biogeomorphic responses to flow regulation and fine sediment supply in Mediterranean streams (the Guadalete River, southern Spain). J Hydrol 528: 751–762.
DEVI MA & RONGMEI L. 2017. Impacts of sand and gravel quarrying on the stream channel and surrounding environment. ASIA PACIFIC J ENERGY ENVIRON 4: 7–12.
ELOSEGI A et al. 2010. Effects of hydromorphological integrity on biodiversity and functioning of river ecosystems. Hydrobiologia 657: 199–215.
FRENCH T & CHAMBERS P. 1996. Habitat partitioning in riverine macrophyte communities. Freshw Biol 36: 509–520.
FULLER MR et al. 2015. Causes and consequences of habitat fragmentation in river networks. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1355: 31–51.
GBANIE SP et al. 2018. Impacts on the urban environment: Land cover change trajectories and landscape fragmentation in post-war Western Area, Sierra Leone. Remote Sens 10: 129.
GHIRARDI N et al. 2023a. Pit lakes from gravel and sand quarrying in the Po River basin: An opportunity for riverscape rehabilitation and ecosystem services improvement. Ecol Eng 196: 107103.
GHIRARDI N et al. 2023b. The Long-Term Detection of Suspended Particulate Matter Concentration and Water Colour in Gravel and Sand Pit Lakes through Landsat and Sentinel-2 Imagery. Remote Sens 15:1–20.
GHOSH PK et al. 2016. Sand quarrying activities in an alluvial reach of Damodar River, Eastern India: towards a geomorphic assessment. Int J River Basin Manag 14: 477–489.
GROSS EM et al. 2001. Experimental evidence for changes in submersed macrophyte species composition caused by the herbivore Acentria ephemerella (Lepidoptera). Oecologia 127: 105–114.
HAMAD R et al. 2018. Post-war land cover changes and fragmentation in Halgurd Sakran National Park (HSNP), Kurdistan region of Iraq. Land 7: 38.
HAMZA NH. 2012. Evaluation of water quality of Diyala River for irrigation purposes. Diyala J Eng Sci 5: 82–98.
HASAN QM et al. 2023. When the law is unclear: challenges and opportunities for data and information exchange in the Tigris-Euphrates and Indus river basins. Water Policy 25: 780–796.
HUANG L et al. 2008. Scale impacts of land cover and vegetation corridors on urban thermal behavior in Nanjing, China. Theor Appl Climatol 94: 241–257.
HUSSEIN EA et al. 2021. Do anthropogenic activities affect floristic diversity and vegetation structure more than natural soil properties in hyper-arid desert environments? Diversity 13: 157.
KONDOLF GM. 1994. Geomorphic and environmental effects of instream gravel mining. Landsc Urban Plan 28: 225–243.
MARCHETTI M. 2002. Environmental changes in the central Po Plain (northern Italy) due to fluvial modifications and anthropogenic activities. Geomorphology 44: 361–373.
MIGOŃ P & LATOCHA A. 2018. Human impact and geomorphic change through time in the Sudetes, Central Europe. Quat Int 470: 194–206.
MITCHELL DS. 1989. Aquatic weed problems and management in Africa. In: Pieterse AH & Murphy K. (Eds.). Aquatic Weeds: The Ecology and Management of Nuisance Aquatic Vegetation. OXFORD: Oxford Univ. Press. p. 341-354.
NAQI NM et al. 2021. Statistical analysis of extreme weather events in the Diyala River basin, Iraq. J Water Clim Chang 12: 3770–3785.
NEWSON MD & NEWSON CL. 2000. Geomorphology, ecology and river channel habitat: mesoscale approaches to basin-scale challenges. Prog Phys Geogr 24: 195–217.
O’BRIAIN R et al. 2023. Towards Biogeomorphic River Restoration: Vegetation as a Critical Driver of Physical Habitat. Authorea Prepr
ORTIZ-BURGOS S. 2016. Shannon-weaver diversity index. Encycl estuaries 572–573.
OTHMAN AA et al. 2023. Insights for Estimating and Predicting Reservoir Sedimentation Using the RUSLE-SDR Approach: A Case of Darbandikhan Lake Basin, Iraq–Iran. Remote Sens. 15
OTHMAN AA & GLOAGUEN R. 2013. River Courses Affected by Landslides and Implications for Hazard Assessment: A High Resolution Remote Sensing Case Study in NE Iraq–W Iran. Remote Sens 5: 1024–1044.
OTHMAN AA et al. 2021. Insights for Landfill Site Selection Using GIS: A Case Study in the Tanjero River Basin, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. Sustain. 13
OZCAN O et al. 2012. Environmental impact analysis of quarrying activities established on and near a river bed by using remotely sensed data. Fresenius Environ Bull 21: 3147–3153.
RAHIMI I et al. 2024. Zagros Grass Index. A New Vegetation Index to Enhance Fire Fuel Mapping: A Case Study in the Zagros Mountains. Sustainability 16: 3900.
RINISHAKARTHEESHWARI M et al. 2024. Innovative water management using abandoned quarries for urban water supply and flood mitigation. Environ Dev Sustain.
ROUSE JW et al. 1974. Monitoring the vernal advancement of retrogradation of natural vegetation. NASA/GSFC, type III, Final report, greenbelt, MD 371.
SALAR SG. 2013. Geomorphic Analysis for Water Harvesting Using GIS Technique in Selected Basins/ Garmiyan Iraqi Kurdistan Region. University of Sulaimani
SCHMUTZ S & SENDZIMIR J. 2018. Riverine ecosystem management: science for governing towards a sustainable future. Springer Nature
SUREN AM et al. 2000. Drag coefficients of stream bryophytes: experimental determinations and ecological significance. Freshw Biol 45: 309–317.
TEAM RC. 2013. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. (No Title)
TOWNSEND CC & GUEST E. 1980. Flora of Iraq (Vol. 4). Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform
UKPONG EC. 2012. Environmental impact of aggregate mining of crush rock industry in Akamkpa local government area of cross river state. Niger J Technol 31: 128–138.
VANDANA M et al. 2020. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) of hard rock quarrying in a tropical river basin-study from the SW India. Environ Monit Assess 192: 1–18.
WROBLESCKI FA et al. 2021. Assessed impact of anthropization on water and soil quality in a drainage basin in southern Brazil. Rev Ciências Agroveterinárias 20: 74–85.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Authors & Revista de Ciências Agroveterinárias
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors publishing in this journal are in agreement with the following terms:
a) Authors maintain the copyrights and concede to the journal the copyright for the first publication, according to Creative Commons Attribution Licence.
b) Authors have the authority to assume additional contracts with the content of the manuscript.
c) Authors may supply and distribute the manuscript published by this journal.
