Popular Species of Soda Lakes in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia are Dwindling

The findings, published in the scientific journal Current Biology, revealed that rising water levels are destroying cyanobacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae, which the flamingos feed on. That species of cyanobacteria only grows in the highly salty and alkaline conditions of soda lakes. But more water in the lakes, which have no outflowing rivers, has diluted them, reducing their salinity and limiting the growth of the food that the flamingos depend on. The researchers concluded that only half of the lakes that provided high-quality feeding habitats in 2000 were still suitable for flamingo diets in 2022.

SOURCE: SEMAFOR