Conservation status and threats to freshwater forested wetlands: A global systematic review

Freshwater forested wetlands support high levels of biodiversity, influence hydrological function, store substantial carbon and provide ecosystem services. Despite their ecological importance, freshwater forested wetlands remain underrepresented in global conservation frameworks and face multifaceted threats. This systematic review synthesized findings from 74 peer-reviewed studies to evaluate the conservation status, dominant threats, and research trends associated with freshwater forested wetlands worldwide. Altered hydrology is the most frequently cited ecologically disruptive threat, followed by agriculture and plantation dominated land-use change, climate change, logging, wildfire and infrastructure expansion. Research is geographically concentrated in Southeast Asia, Central and Western Europe, North America, and the Amazon Basin, whereas extensive regions such as Africa, South Asia, Oceania and Eastern Europe remain underrepresented. There is a growing adoption of remote sensing, ecological modelling, and socio-ecological approaches, whereas interdisciplinary integration and long-term monitoring remain limited. Many tree species central to these ecosystems lack up-to-date conservation assessments, especially in biodiverse but data-deficient regions. The review highlights persistent knowledge and geographic imbalances, widespread ecosystem decline, and common yet context-specific degradation drivers, emphasizing the need for integrated approaches that link ecological, hydrological, and social dimensions to enhance conservation planning and resilience of freshwater forested wetlands under accelerating environmental change.