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Influence of the El Niño Southern Oscillation and wetland condition on the abundance and spatial distribution of two flamingo species in lowland wetlands of central Argentina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2025

Ignacio M. Barberis Open the ORCID record for Ignacio M. Barberis [Opens in a new window] ,
Jorgelina P. Asmus ,
Marcelo Romano ,
Caterina Barisón  and
Felicity Arengo
Ignacio M. Barberis*
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Campo Experimental Villarino, S2125ZAA Zavalla, Argentina Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, S2125ZAA Zavalla, Argentina Grupo de Conservación Flamencos Altoandinos (GCFA)
Jorgelina P. Asmus
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Campo Experimental Villarino, S2125ZAA Zavalla, Argentina Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, S2125ZAA Zavalla, Argentina
Marcelo Romano
Affiliation:
Grupo de Conservación Flamencos Altoandinos (GCFA) Centro de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Ambiente (ECOSUR), Rosario, Argentina
Caterina Barisón
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Campo Experimental Villarino, S2125ZAA Zavalla, Argentina Grupo de Conservación Flamencos Altoandinos (GCFA)
Felicity Arengo
Affiliation:
Grupo de Conservación Flamencos Altoandinos (GCFA) Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA
*
Corresponding author: Ignacio M. Barberis; Email: ignaciobarberis@yahoo.com
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Summary

Birds show considerable spatial and temporal fluctuations in their abundance due to variations in habitat conditions. The lowland wetlands of the Pampas region in Argentina are key wintering areas for two flamingo species. The Chilean Flamingo Phoenicopterus chilensis is a year-round resident, while the Andean Flamingo Phoenicoparrus andinus is a partial altitudinal migrant that uses these wetlands in winter when some of the wetlands in the high Andes freeze over. We studied the association between the annual abundance of both flamingo species, wetland condition (water surface area and water salinity), and environmental conditions (flooding) driven by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) over 15 consecutive winters (July–August 2008–2022) in 24 lowland wetlands in central Argentina. There were notable differences in wetland surface area and water conductivity between years, with some wetlands ranging from flooded to almost dried out. For any given year, there were also large differences in water surface area and water conductivity between wetlands. Both flamingo species showed marked fluctuations in abundance over the study period. Each year, the Chilean Flamingo was more abundant than the Andean Flamingo. The Chilean Flamingo was recorded at least once in every wetland, while the Andean Flamingo was absent from three wetlands and was not observed in two years during the study. The Chilean Flamingo was recorded in wetlands covering a larger range of water conductivity values than the Andean Flamingo (2.53–58.23 ms/cm vs 2.94–16.20 ms/cm, respectively). The abundance of both flamingo species was higher at intermediate water conductivity values and decreased at higher or lower values. These results show that these lowland wetlands are subjected to strong interannual variation in climatic conditions which affect lake conditions, and thus the abundance of both flamingo species, highlighting the importance of conserving wetlands encompassing a broad range of environmental conditions.

Keywords

ConservationFlamingosPampasSpatial distributionWintering areas

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Type
Research Article
Information
Bird Conservation International , Volume 35 , 2025 , e13
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of BirdLife International

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