Still standing on one leg: a systematic review of threats, priorities, and conservation perspectives for flamingos (Phoenicopteridae)

Flamingos (Phoenicopteridae) are a distinctive group of birds associated with wetlands, one of the habitats most threatened by human activities. The abstraction of water, mining, agricultural expansion, and rapid urbanization around wetland areas has direct and indirect effects that cause the deterioration of waterbodies, also impacting the species that depend on them for reproduction and survival. Due to their unique features and high popularity, flamingos can also be an important tool for conserving and protecting their wetland habitats, serving as flagship and umbrella species. Nevertheless, due to limited resources, conservation efforts should be prioritized to mitigate major threats and protect species that are more threatened, which necessitates understanding the pressures that most impact these species and their habitats. This systematic review of the literature aimed to search the available literature on flamingo conservation for information on the most common and intense threats and use the information gathered to indicate the conservation priority of the wetlands cited in the literature. The filtering and selection processes resulted in 349 different articles citing 698 different wetlands used by the six species of flamingos in the world. Among the most common threats described were human disturbance and biological resource use, although more drastic changes could be caused by threats such as mining, abstraction of surface and ground water, and pollution. The data showed that European and North American wetlands, many under some form of protection, are highly cited in the literature, while there is less published information available for South American and African wetlands. Our results also highlight the necessity to integrate scientific research, policies and the needs and aspirations of communities that live and depend on these wetlands into land use plans to reverse and mitigate major threats, recover impacted areas, and avoid further wetland habitat loss for flamingos.