Ecological factors affecting the distribution of the zooplankton community in the Tigris River at Baghdad region, Iraq

Biodiversity of zooplankton in the Tigris River running in Baghdad City, central Iraq, was investigated. Fourteen physical and chemical parameters, were analyzed, these parameters include water and air temperature, pH, EC, turbidity, TDS, DO, BOD5, total hardness, Ca+2, Mg+2, chloride, nitrate and reactive phosphate. Most of these values were within of the Iraqi and international standard limits. In all, 106 taxonomy units of zooplankton were identified, including 65 taxa belonging to rotifers, 25 taxa to copepod and 16 taxa to Cladocera. Values of species richness index of rotifers varied from 1.051 to 12.98, for Cladocera from 1.285 to 3.41 and for copepod from 1.5 to 7.2. The Shannon–Weiner index of Rotifera varied from 0.67 to 3, 0.50–1.72 for Cladocera and from 0.91 to 2.51 for Copepoda. The uniformity index of zooplankton varied from 0.41 to 0.93 for rotifer, 0.33–1 for Cladocera and 0.36–1 for Copepoda. According to statistical analysis, temperature, EC, TDS and dissolved oxygen were observed as major factors which restrict the abundance and diversity of the zooplankton communities in the Tigris River.