The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities
IUCN Not ApplicableWorld Heritage Site (natural or mixed) · 2016
2 114 km²
District · IRQ
Basrah
Iraq
BWhArid, desert, hot(100 %)
Species observed
382
Observations
1 554
Area
1 161km²
Ecological tissue
Sample of 39 species (selected proportionally per kingdom among those with at least one documented interaction here) to keep the graph readable. Hover for details, click to explore the full ecosystem of a species.
ℹ️ The territory contains many more species than displayed and all their documented interactions: the graph is intentionally the structural skeleton (top-N species by composite local score, edges filtered by Serrano 2009 disparity filter α=0.2).
RègnesAnimalPlanteChampignonBacterie
RelationsPredationParasitismeSymbiosePollinisation
StatutEn dangerVulnérableProtégéeEndémique
Indicateurs du tissu écologique
Tissu écologique de Basrah : 33 espèces dont 1 patrimoniale (LR IUCN CR/EN/VU) reliées par 44 interactions GloBI sur 5 types (connectance 5.9%, filtre Serrano α=0.2). 6 bulles taxonomiques (cascade genre/famille GloBI, ≥3 espèces).
Espèces affichées
39
Interactions affichées
44
Connectance
0.059
Patrimoniales
1
Plus dense que (national)0 %(top 100%)
Comparaison sur la connectance du réseau local complet vs distribution nationale (toutes les communes françaises).
Species present
382 distinct species · 1 554 observations
Source: GBIF Occurrence snapshot 2026-05-01.
Climate
Mean T°
26,8°C
Annual rain
147mm
Warmest m°
46,4°C
Coldest m°
7,2°C
Elevation: 2 m on average (min -18 m, max 16 m)
Bioclimatic details19 BIO + Köppen full + altitude statsExpert
Annual mean temp.
26,8°C
Annual rain
147mm
Warmest month
46,4°C
Coldest month
7,2°C
Mean alt.
2m
Min
-18m
Max
16m
Std. dev.
3m
Köppen-Geiger (dominant)
BWhArid, desert, hot(100 %)Arid
CHELSA BIO 1-19 v2.1 · ETOPO DEM 60s · Köppen-Geiger 1991-2020 (Beck et al. 2018)
Soil & lithology
pH H₂O
7,8
Org. C
8,5g/kg
Clay
33,3%
Sand
30,8%
Silt
35,9%
Average over 0-30 cm. Per-depth details in expert panel.
Dominant lithology: suGLiM
3 soil depths detailed0-5cm / 5-15cm / 15-30cm × 5 propsExpert
0–5 cm
pH H₂O
7,8
Org. C
9,7g/kg
Clay
33,0%
Sand
30,8%
Silt
36,2%
5–15 cm
pH H₂O
7,8
Org. C
7,4g/kg
Clay
33,1%
Sand
30,8%
Silt
36,1%
15–30 cm
pH H₂O
7,9
Org. C
8,2g/kg
Clay
34,0%
Sand
30,8%
Silt
35,3%
SoilGrids 250m (ISRIC, 2017) · GLiM v1.0 (Hartmann & Moosdorf 2012)
Land cover
Forest0.4%
Crops3.0%
Built-up2.8%
Bare soil63.7%
Other (grassland, water…)30.1%
Copernicus Global Land Cover 100m (Buchhorn et al. 2020)
Hydrology10 basins · 11 lakes · 11 rivers
Hydrology metrics for this exact territory
Stream length here
132,2km
Lake surface here
55,99km²
Basins crossed
10
Max stream order
8
Max drainage
755 834km²
Discharge in basins
2 116,3m³/s
Mean precip.
124mm/an
Mean T°
24,4°C
Moisture idx
-0,93
Mean runoff
22mm/an
Mean elev. (basins)
20m
Watersheds crossing here
- Bassin de قناة البدعةsub-area1 796,9 km²overlap797.70 km²69%
- Bassin de قناة البدعةsub-area1 847,7 km²overlap131.93 km²11%
- Bassin de شط العربsub-area423,4 km²overlap63.25 km²5%
- Bassin de شط العربsub-area157,8 km²overlap57.98 km²5%
- Bassin de شط المالحsub-area2 313,2 km²overlap50.95 km²4%
- Bassin de نهر الصالحيةsub-area324,4 km²overlap25.60 km²2%
- Basin #31360sub-area193,3 km²overlap22.24 km²2%
- Bassin de شط العربsub-area30,8 km²overlap10.76 km²1%
- Bassin de شط البصرةsub-area129,3 km²overlap0.60 km²0%
1 more basinssorted by overlap
Lakes (11, top by area)
- Lake #15275area53,8 km²avg depth1.0 m
- Lake #15281area23,9 km²avg depth1.0 m
- Lake #75914area1,6 km²avg depth0.9 m
- Lac 1377893area0,7 km²avg depth1.7 m
- Lac 1377892area0,7 km²avg depth1.5 m
- Lac 1377901area0,6 km²avg depth1.2 m
- Lac 1377758area0,6 km²avg depth1.4 m
- Lac 1377902area0,6 km²avg depth1.3 m
- Lac 1377898area0,4 km²avg depth2.0 m
Rivers / streams (11, ord ≥ 4)
- المصب العامord 8len here42.91 km9%total496 km
- قناة البدعةord 4len here21.45 km13%total164 km
- شط كرمة عليord 5len here16.45 km94%total17 km
- نهر ضعيفord 3len here11.15 km100%total11 km
- شط العربord 8len here7.63 km4%total194 km
- نهر مصبord 5len here6.77 km100%total7 km
- نهر الدريord 5len here6.73 km100%total7 km
- نهر حاج عليord 8len here5.87 km74%total8 km
- نهر الزريجيord 8len here5.57 km66%total8 km
- نهر الخورةord 8len here4.96 km42%total12 km
- شط البصرةord 2len here2.69 km100%total3 km
Live spatial overlap (cached after first hit) · HydroBASINS lev08 × HydroLAKES × HydroRIVERS v10
Human pressure
Pop. density
11hab/km²
Night light
61,4nW
Built-up
278,4%
Pesticides
4,5kg/km²
GHSL POP/Built 2020 · VIIRS lumière nocturne · PEST-CHEMGRIDS 2020 (Maggi et al.)
Protected areas2
IUCN Not Applicable · 1IUCN Not Reported · 1
Hammar Marsh
IUCN Not ReportedWetland of International Importance (Ramsar Site) · 2014
1 788 km²
WDPA (World Database on Protected Areas) — UNEP-WCMC & IUCN