About

Dr. Dee Boersma is the Principal Investigator at the Boersma Lab, where she is involved in research related to ecosystem sentinels, particularly focusing on penguins such as the Magellanic Penguin and the Galápagos Penguin. Her work is centered on studying these species to understand their ecology and conservation needs. She is a key member of the team dedicated to ecosystem monitoring and species study, contributing to the center's mission of environmental research and preservation.

Research topics

• Ecology
• Geography
• Biology
• Fishery
• Climatology
• Oceanography

Selected publications

• Comparative life-cycle analyses reveal interacting climatic and biotic drivers of population responses to climate change

  PNAS Nexus · 2025-08-30 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Responses of natural populations to climate change are driven by how multiple climatic and biotic factors affect survival and reproduction, and ultimately shape population dynamics. Yet, despite substantial progress in synthesizing the sensitivity of populations to climatic variation, comparative studies still overlook such complex interactions among drivers that generate variation in population-level metrics. Here, we use a common framework to synthesize how the joint effects of climate and biotic drivers on different vital rates impact population change, using unique long-term data from 41 species, ranging from trees to primates. We show that simultaneous effects of multiple climatic drivers exacerbate population responses to climate change, especially for fast-lived species. However, accounting for density feedbacks under climate variation buffers the effects of climate change on population dynamics. In all species considered in our analyses, such interactions between climate and density had starkly different effects depending on the age, size, or life-cycle stage of individuals, regardless of the life history of species. Our work provides the first general framework to assess how covarying effects of climate and density across a wide range of population models can impact populations of plants and animals under climate change.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Plasticity syndromes in wild vertebrates: Patterns and consequences of individual variation in plasticity across multiple behaviours

  Ecology Letters · 2024-12-01 · 7 citations

  article

  Behavioural plasticity is an important mechanism allowing animals to cope with changing environments. Theory has hypothesized the existence of 'plasticity syndromes'-positive correlations in plasticity across multiple behaviours within an individual-affording a generalized ability to respond to environmental change. However, the occurrence of correlated plasticities and their potential fitness consequences in natural populations remain untested. Using a 40-year dataset on free-ranging Magellanic penguins, we find evidence of both positively and negatively correlated behavioural plasticities. Plasticity did not strongly affect lifetime reproductive success, but its effect on interannual performance varied significantly by environmental context: plasticity reduced success in average oceanic conditions, increased success in anomalously productive conditions and, contrary to expectation, did not buffer against anomalously unproductive conditions. Such results highlight the complex patterns and consequences of plasticity across behaviours, individuals and environments, and the context-dependent role that correlated plasticities play in the adaptive capacity of populations to environmental change.

  PublisherDOI

• The capacity of sentinel species to detect changes in environmental conditions and ecosystem structure

  Journal of Applied Ecology · 2024-05-07 · 17 citations

  article

  Abstract A major obstacle to preventing and reversing biodiversity loss in the Anthropocene lies in the scarcity of tools and data for monitoring the health and trajectory of ecosystems. Sentinel species can provide insight into unobserved ecosystem change, but it is unclear how effective sentinels are due to the local, context‐dependent nature of past research. Here, we present the first global evaluation on the effectiveness of sentinel species as indicators of ecosystem change. We conducted a meta‐analysis on 372 case studies to identify the ecological and methodological factors that correlate with the most effective sentinel species. Sentinel performance did not vary consistently across taxa or system; instead, sentinels that were more directly linked to ecosystem change due to their trophic role as predators were more effective. In addition, sentinel responses that were measured on a shorter timescale were more effective at indicating ecosystem change. Policy Implications . These results contribute to the longstanding debate on “what makes a good sentinel” and demonstrate the importance of both ecological and methodological factors when selecting sentinels to detect ecosystem change. For example, sentinel species which are trophically linked and measured on short timescales may be more effective for managers seeking to monitor ecosystem change than other species. By identifying effective traits for the use of sentinel species, scientists and policymakers will be able to develop rapid and adaptable management plans in response to global change.

  PublisherDOI

• Author response for "Plasticity syndromes in wild vertebrates: Patterns and consequences of individual variation in plasticity across multiple behaviours"

  2024-05-21

  peer-review
  PublisherDOI

• Removing institutional barriers to long-term fieldwork is critical for advancing ecology

  Trends in Ecology & Evolution · 2024-11-14 · 8 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• A fearful scourge to the penguin colonies: Southern giant petrel (<i>Macronectes giganteus</i>) predation on living Magellanic penguins (<i>Spheniscus magellanicus</i>) may be more common than assumed

  Ecology and Evolution · 2024-04-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Southern giant petrels ( Macronectes giganteus ) are important consumers that range across the oceans throughout the southern hemisphere. In Argentina, previous studies have shown they eat primarily pinnipeds and penguins, which they are assumed to scavenge, although there are occasional anecdotes of them attacking living penguins. Here we describe a predation attempt by a trio of southern giant petrels on a molting adult Magellanic penguin ( Spheniscus magellanicus ) at the large colony at Punta Tombo, Argentina. We relate giant petrel attendance patterns at the colony to the penguins' phenology, showing how giant petrel numbers rise with the increasing prevalence of vulnerable penguins. We suggest that living penguins—both fledglings and adults—may constitute a more seasonally significant proportion of the giant petrel diet than previously assumed, and their capture may represent a specialized predation technique.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Author response for "Plasticity syndromes in wild vertebrates: Patterns and consequences of individual variation in plasticity across multiple behaviours"

  2024-03-25

  peer-review
  PublisherDOI

• Increasing environmental variability inhibits evolutionary rescue in a long-lived vertebrate

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2024-08-12 · 10 citations

  articleOpen access

  Evolutionary rescue, whereby adaptive evolutionary change rescues populations from extinction, is theorized to enable imperiled animal populations to persist under increasing anthropogenic change. Despite a large body of evidence in theoretical and laboratory settings, the potential for evolutionary rescue to be a viable adaptation process for free-ranging animals remains unknown. Here, we leverage a 38-year dataset following the fates of 53,959 Magellanic penguins ( Spheniscus magellanicus ) to investigate whether a free-ranging vertebrate species can morphologically adapt to long-term environmental change sufficiently to promote population persistence. Despite strong selective pressures, we found that penguins did not adapt morphologically to long-term environmental changes, leading to projected population extirpation. Fluctuating selection benefited larger penguins in some environmental contexts, and smaller penguins in others, ultimately mitigating their ability to adapt under increasing environmental variability. Under future climate projections, we found that the species cannot be rescued by adaptation, suggesting similar constraints for other long-lived species. Such results reveal how fluctuating selection driven by environmental variability can inhibit adaptation under long-term environmental change. Our eco-evolutionary approach helps explain the lack of adaptation and evolutionary rescue in response to environmental change observed in many animal species.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Sex-specific migratory behavior in a marine predator results in higher risks to females

  Marine Ecology Progress Series · 2023-11-09 · 4 citations

  articleSenior author

  Protecting migratory species requires knowledge of their distributions throughout the year. Spatial or temporal segregation of females and males during part of the annual cycle complicates conservation measures and can lead to sex-biased mortality. Females and males of many seabird species use separate areas during the nonbreeding season, and sex-biased bycatch in fisheries is common. We satellite-tracked 8 female and 8 male post-breeding adult Magellanic penguins Spheniscus magellanicus , including 7 pairs, from Punta Tombo, Argentina, during their fall northbound migration. Our results agreed with recent studies from other colonies, and provided more accurate locations than the geolocator tags used in those studies. Females stayed 47 km closer to shore than males. On average, females and males reached similar latitudes from northern Argentina to southern Brazil. Females tended to stay farther north, however, with some males heading south by June. Body size did not influence how far offshore a penguin migrated, when controlling for sex. On average, females left the colony 2 d before their mates, and did not encounter them at sea. The mean distance between mates at sea was more than 350 km. Females are likely exposed to fishing gear and pollution more than males because the females stayed closer to shore and stayed farther north than males. Migratory routes varied among individuals. The large area that penguins use during their nonbreeding season makes protection of the population difficult.

  PublisherDOI

• Changing course: Relocating commercial tanker lanes significantly reduces threat of chronic oiling for a top marine predator

  Marine Pollution Bulletin · 2023-06-23 · 6 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Ginger A. Rebstock

  University of Washington

  95 shared

• Pablo García Borboroglu

  Education New Zealand

  73 shared

• Esteban Frere

  29 shared

• Olivia J. Kane

  University of Washington

  25 shared

• Eric L. Wagner

  American Sentinel University

  23 shared

• Pablo Yorio

  Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagónico

  22 shared

• Natasha J. Gownaris

  Gettysburg College

  18 shared

• J. Alan Clark

  National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases

  17 shared

Labs

• Boersma LabPI

Education

• Ph.D, Zoology

  The Ohio State University

  1974

• B.Sc., Biology

  Central Michigan University

  1969

Awards & honors

• British Ornithologists’ Union Godman Salvin Prize, 2024
• Elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 2021
• Finalist, Indianapolis Prize, 2016, 2018, 2020
• Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, Ohio State Universit…
• Lifelong Learning Award, University of Washington, 2018