Biodiversity survey of West Qurna2 oil field, Basrah, Southern, Iraq

A collective biodiversity survey was conducted at West Qurna-2 Oil field, Basrah, Southern Iraq during the period March-April 2017. The sites are a ten (10) Km2 area, which naturally is a part of the Mesopotamian marshland. Ten representing sites were collected covered six terrestrial and four aquatic locations. The results of biodiversity evaluation via walk-over transect at each terrestrial site show twenty-three total floral genera and twenty-seven species. Forty species of phytoplankton belonging to 22 genera, 5 species of macrophytes were identified in the aquatic sites. Generally, all sites were poor in biodiversity of terrestrial fauna and birds. Aquatic fauna was more rich combined of many species of Rotifers, Copepods, Cladocera, Microbenthic invertebrates, and fish species previous estimate for 2015. In conclusion, the biodiversity of WQ-2 site values is highly respectable; good environmental management could play an important role in protecting some emic and migratory shrimp, fishes, and birds.