Lisa
Sorenson
Email: lsoren@bu.edu
Research Assistant Professor of Biology and Co-Chair, West Indian Whistling-Duck
Working Group of the Society of Caribbean Ornithology
Ph.D.,
University of Minnesota (1990)
Conservation Biology, Behavioral Ecology, and Hormonal Mechanisms of
Behavior in Birds
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Research
Interests
My current research addresses the potential
effects of global warming on wetlands and waterfowl breeding in the Prairie
Pothole Region (PPR) of the Northern Great Plains, the most important
breeding area for waterfowl in North America. As the climate warms due
to rising atmospheric concentrations of CO2 from anthropogenic burning
of fossil fuels, it is important to assess the probable impacts of this
warming on this vital wetland ecosystem and wildlife resource.
Using data from annual spring counts of
wetlands and breeding duck populations conducted since 1955, I am examining
the historical relationship between climate conditions and the number
of wetlands and breeding ducks. Working with climatologists at Goddard
Institute for Space Studies, I am using this relationship to project future
pond and duck numbers under climate change based on climate values generated
from sensitivity analyses and General Circulation Model (GCM) scenarios.
My work includes an analysis of the sensitivity of individual waterfowl
species to global warming as well as an assessment of which regions in
the PPR may be most vulnerable to damage from climate change, results
that will aid managers in planning mitigation and conservation strategies.
I am also interested in Caribbean ornithology
and am actively involved in avian and wetlands conservation efforts in
the region. I am coordinating the "The West Indian Whistling-Duck
and Wetlands Conservation Project", a region-wide public education
and awareness program and population surveys for the endangered West Indian
Whistling-Duck and the importance of wetlands in general.
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Selected
Publications
- Sorenson,
L.G., Nolan, P., Derrickson, S.R., Brown, A.M., & S.L. Monfort.
1997. Hormonal dynamics of aggression, dominance, and courtship during
mate choice in the Northern Pintail: a test of the "challenge"
hypothesis. Animal Behaviour 54: 1117-1133.
- Sorenson,
L.G. and Carey, E. 1998. The West Indian Whistling-Duck and Wetlands
Conservation Project Working Group report on training workshop held
in Nassau, Bahamas, 13-15 November 1997. El Pitirre 11: 19-22.
- Sorenson,
L.G., Goldberg, R., Root, T.L., and M.G. Anderson. 1998. Potential effects
of global warming on waterfowl populations breeding in the Northern
Great Plains. Climatic Change 40: 343-369.
- Sorenson,
L.G. and P. Bradley. 1999. Update on the West Indian Whistling-Duck
(WIWD) and Wetlands Conservation Project Report from the WIWD Working
Group. El Pitirre 11: 126-131.
- Sorenson,
L.G. In press. The White-cheeked Pintail (species account). in Bird
Families of the World: Ducks, Geese, Swans. Edited by J. Kear, Oxford
University Press.
- Najjar,
R.G., Walker, H., Anderson, P., Barron, E., Bord, R., Gibson, J., Knight,
C.G., Megonigal, P., OConnor, R., Polsky, C., Psuty, N., Richards, B.,
Sorenson, L., Kennedy, V., and R. Swanson. 2000. The potential impacts
of climate change on the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Region. Climate Research.
In press.
- Sorenson,
L.G. 2000. Impacts of Climate Change on Waterfowl in the Chesapeake
Bay. Pg. 30 in: Fisher, A. et al. Preparing for a Changing Climate the
Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change: Mid-Atlantic
Overview Report. Prepared for US Global Change Research Program First
National Assessment, sponsored by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Cooperative Agreement CR 826554, Pennsylvania State University, University
Park.
- Sorenson,
L.G., Goldberg, R., Anderson , M.G., Root, T.L., and C. Rosenzweig.
Potential Impacts of Global Warming to Pothole Wetlands and Waterfowl.
in No Place to Go? The Impact of Climate Change on Wildlife. Edited
by R. Green, M. Harley, M. Spalding, and C. Zockler. In press.
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