Acrocephalus griseldis

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	PASSERIFORMES	SYLVIIDAE

Scientific Name:

Acrocephalus griseldis

Species Authority:

(Hartlaub, 1891)

Common Name/s:

English	–	Basra Reed-warbler, Basra Reed Warbler, Basra Reed-Warbler
French	–	Rousserolle de Basra

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Endangered A2c+3c+4c ver 3.1

Year Published:

2008

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Mahood, S., Butchart, S.

Contributor/s:

Callaghan, D., Evans, M., Pearson, D., Backhurst, G., Scott, D.

Justification:
This species is listed as Endangered because it has a small population which is estimated to be undergoing very rapid and continuing declines owing to extensive, and recently accelerating, drainage of its breeding habitat. Population declines are corroborated by an apparent decline in numbers trapped on migration at a ringing station.

History:

2006	–	Endangered
2004	–	Endangered

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Acrocephalus griseldis breeds in the Mesopotamian marshes of south-east Iraq (between Baghdad and Basra, though also observed in 2006 close to the Tigris north of Baghdad)^2,15 and probably in south-west Iran in the Hawr Al Hawizeh marsh complex of Khuzestan⁸, two pairs have recently been found breeding in the Hula Valley, Israel¹⁴. It winters in Sudan, Ethiopia, south Somalia, south-east Kenya⁶, east Tanzania, south Malawi (few records) and Mozambique. It is regular on passage in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (where it may breed)⁵. Although presumably still common in the breeding habitat that remains², and thought now to be common locally due to re-flooding of the marshes following the fall of Saddam's government, there was massive loss of its shallow, marshy wetland habitat within its breeding range since the 1950s. The maximum area of suitable habitat that is estimated to remain within the main Mesopotamian marshlands is 759 km² (c.7% of the original marshland area, as of the mid-1970s)⁷. At Ngulia ringing station (Kenya), the average decadal ringing total for this species has been declining over the last three decades relative to the average decadal total for all Palearctic passerine migrants (by c.20% per decade)⁹. This suggests that a decline of up to 70-80% may have taken place since the 1970s^8,11. However, the ringing methodology has changed somewhat during this period^4,9 and even fewer birds might be expected in Kenya given the very high rate of destruction of the Mesopotamian marshes⁹. However, following the regeneration of habitat in southern Iraq, surveys indicate that the species increased between 2006 and 2007¹⁵.
Countries:	Native: Ethiopia; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Israel; Kenya; Kuwait; Malawi; Mozambique; Saudi Arabia; Somalia; Sudan; Tanzania, United Republic of; Uganda Vagrant: Botswana; Egypt; Syrian Arab Republic
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	Population estimate = 10-50 individuals/km2 x 759 km2 (area of suitable habitat: UNEP 2003) = 7,590-37,950 individuals, perhaps best placed precautionarily in the band 2,500-9,999 individuals (population density from up to lower quartile of eight estimates for six congeners in Birdlife Populatoin Densities Database). Further work may show that the total is larger than this.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Acrocephalus griseldis breeds in aquatic vegetation in or around shallow fresh or brackish water, still or flowing, mostly in Typha beds, although it forages extensively in adjacent dense reedbeds Phragmites austoralis¹⁵. Newly fledged birds are often observed feeding in Typha along the dry edge of marshes and also in adjacent Tamarix scrub¹⁵. It is found in low reeds above water, mangroves and gardens on migration, whilst in winter it has been recorded in dense Typha beds, coastal dense Suaeda monoica saltbushes, moist dense green thickets with tall rank grass and sedges near or over wet or drying ditches, swamps, lakes and flood pools and occasionally in herbaceous woodland undergrowth¹³. It occurs mostly singly or in pairs, but during migration it has been recorded in loose groups¹⁰.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Freshwater

Habitat and Ecology:

Acrocephalus griseldis breeds in aquatic vegetation in or around shallow fresh or brackish water, still or flowing, mostly in Typha beds, although it forages extensively in adjacent dense reedbeds Phragmites austoralis¹⁵. Newly fledged birds are often observed feeding in Typha along the dry edge of marshes and also in adjacent Tamarix scrub¹⁵. It is found in low reeds above water, mangroves and gardens on migration, whilst in winter it has been recorded in dense Typha beds, coastal dense Suaeda monoica saltbushes, moist dense green thickets with tall rank grass and sedges near or over wet or drying ditches, swamps, lakes and flood pools and occasionally in herbaceous woodland undergrowth¹³. It occurs mostly singly or in pairs, but during migration it has been recorded in loose groups¹⁰.

Systems:

Terrestrial; Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Since the 1950s there has been considerable loss of its shallow, marshy wetland habitat due to large-scale hydrological projects throughout the Euphrates and Tigris river-basins². The Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) resulted in extensive damage to reedbeds in the main Mesopotamian marshes in southern Iraq². In the 1980s, the construction of upstream dams smoothed out the annual flood pulse from the Zagros Mountains snow-melt which until then was probably an important factor affecting reedbed distribution and growth from year to year^9,11,12. Large-scale hydrological engineering works in the main Mesopotamian marshes had, by 1993, prevented water from entering up to two-thirds of the area, with huge expanses of lake drying up^1,3. Improvement in access to the region, with consequent increases in settlement, has resulted in increased disturbance and water pollution². Until 1997 perhaps as much as one third of the original extent of suitable habitat remained on the Iran-Iraq border where the dominant water supply to the area (unregulated rivers from Iran) had not yet been controlled or reduced². By 2000, however, the main Mesopotamian marshes had been reduced to just 1,294 km^{2 7}, and by 2003 a further third of this area had been drained, leaving a maximum of 759 km² of wetland extant⁷. The amount of suitable reedbed habitat within this wetland area is probably significantly smaller¹¹.

Major Threat(s):

Since the 1950s there has been considerable loss of its shallow, marshy wetland habitat due to large-scale hydrological projects throughout the Euphrates and Tigris river-basins². The Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) resulted in extensive damage to reedbeds in the main Mesopotamian marshes in southern Iraq². In the 1980s, the construction of upstream dams smoothed out the annual flood pulse from the Zagros Mountains snow-melt which until then was probably an important factor affecting reedbed distribution and growth from year to year^9,11,12. Large-scale hydrological engineering works in the main Mesopotamian marshes had, by 1993, prevented water from entering up to two-thirds of the area, with huge expanses of lake drying up^1,3. Improvement in access to the region, with consequent increases in settlement, has resulted in increased disturbance and water pollution². Until 1997 perhaps as much as one third of the original extent of suitable habitat remained on the Iran-Iraq border where the dominant water supply to the area (unregulated rivers from Iran) had not yet been controlled or reduced². By 2000, however, the main Mesopotamian marshes had been reduced to just 1,294 km^{2 7}, and by 2003 a further third of this area had been drained, leaving a maximum of 759 km² of wetland extant⁷. The amount of suitable reedbed habitat within this wetland area is probably significantly smaller¹¹.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Conservation Actions Underway CMS Appendix II. The population in Israel is being monitored intensely and the population in the Lower Marshes of Iraq is also subject to a monitoring program. Conservation Actions Proposed Confirm whether Acrocephalus griseldis breeds in the marshes of Khuzestan, Iran^8,11. Continue to monitor migrating birds at Ngulia (Kenya) to assess population trends^8,9,11. Conduct surveys to assess whether the species now breeds in sub-optimal habitats, e.g. further up the Euphrates/Tigris north of Baghdad¹¹. Investigate possibilities for habitat restoration.

Conservation Actions:

Conservation Actions Underway
CMS Appendix II. The population in Israel is being monitored intensely and the population in the Lower Marshes of Iraq is also subject to a monitoring program.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Confirm whether Acrocephalus griseldis breeds in the marshes of Khuzestan, Iran^8,11. Continue to monitor migrating birds at Ngulia (Kenya) to assess population trends^8,9,11. Conduct surveys to assess whether the species now breeds in sub-optimal habitats, e.g. further up the Euphrates/Tigris north of Baghdad¹¹. Investigate possibilities for habitat restoration.

Citation:	BirdLife International 2008. Acrocephalus griseldis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 May 2012.
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