rising sea levels also threaten flamingos, study finds

A study, in which the Natural History Museum participated, shows that the rise in sea levels in wetlands has a significant impact on the survival of several dozen species of birds.

Will pink flamingos or herons still be part of our landscapes at the end of the century? The question is valid. A French study, which appears on Friday May 17, shows that they are also threatened by rising sea levels.

When we think of the pink flamingos of the Camargue, for example, of the mallard ducks, of the waders, we are tempted to think that they are used to having their legs in the water, and that a few centimeters more are not a problem. issue. This study, in which the Natural History Museum participated, shows that when we simulate the rise in sea level in 938 wetlands in eight countries bordering the Mediterranean, based on different IPCC scenarios, between a third and the half of the habitats of the 145 species of birds living in estuaries and marshes risk being flooded by 2100. This threatens their survival.

These birds will not be able to settle elsewhere, because they are very dependent on these humid areas, with brackish water, therefore slightly salty, but not too much. They are also equipped to live there, with their webbed or very long legs, their beak adapted to searching for food in the mud, and their waterproof plumage. What threatens them is not only a few centimeters of extra water, it is also a high salinity of the soil which will cause the disappearance of plants, plankton and small crustaceans, all elements on which they feed.

As it is difficult to imagine building dikes to protect all the marshes or estuaries, the idea would rather be to consider fallback sites for these birds. Restoring wetlands elsewhere, further inland, is a possibility, underlines Fabien Verniest, researcher in conservation biology, and one of the authors of the study, but it is also possible to help the sea to invade new surfaces (obviously where there is no habitation) to recreate areas permanently waterlogged. Beyond preserving birds, these wetlands have other uses. They serve as buffer zones during floods, they filter, purify water and serve as carbon sinks.