Lauren Bortolotti, Ph.D.

Using science to guide conservation investments and grow public support for conservation

Lauren Bortolotti joined IWWR in 2016. She has a diverse scientific background, with experience in avian ecology and wetland ecology and biogeochemistry. Her graduate research focussed on wetland restoration, evaluating the recovery of biodiversity and function in Ducks Unlimited Canada projects. During her doctoral program at the University of Alberta, Lauren earned one of IWWR’s prestigious Bonnycastle Fellowships.

Lauren is involved in a variety of IWWR research projects ranging from evaluating waterfowl conservation efforts to quantifying wetland ecosystem services. She is broadly interested in research on wetlands and biodiversity, and using science to advance conservation in Canada.

Education:

• Ph.D., Ecology, University of Alberta
• B.Sc., Biology, University of Saskatchewan

Lauren’s Publications (organized by year)

Logozzo, L.A., C. Soued, L.E. Bortolotti, P. Badiou, P. Kowal, B. Page, and M.J. Bogard. 2025. Agricultural land use impacts aquatic greenhouse gas emissions from wetlands in the Canadian Prairie Pothole Region. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 39:e2024GB008209.

Mi, C., C. Soued, L.E. Bortolotti, P. Badiou, B. Page, M. Denny, and M.J. Bogard. 2025. Multi-decadal impacts of effluent loading on phosphorus sorption capacity in a restored wetland. Environmental Research 264:120256.

Paterson, J.E., L.E. Bortolotti, P.D. Kowal, A.J. Pidwerbesky, and J.H. Devries. 2024. Predicting the effects of land cover change on biodiversity in Prairie Canada using species distribution models. Biological Conservation 298:110754.

Rabaey, J.S., M.A. Holgerson, D.C. Richardson, M.R. Andersen, S. Bansal, L.E. Bortolotti, J.B. Cottner, D.J. Hornbach, K.T. Martinsen, E.K. Moody, and O.F. Schloegel. 2024. Freshwater biogeochemical hotspots: High primary production and ecosystem respiration in shallow waterbodies. Geophysical Research Letters 51:e2023GL106689.

Soued, C., M.J. Bogard, K. Finlay, L.E. Bortolotti, P.R. Leavitt, P. Badiou, S.H. Knox, S. Jensen, P. Mueller, S. Ching Lee, D. Ng, B. Wissel, C.N. Chan, B. Page, and P. Kowal. 2024. Salinity causes widespread restriction of methane emissions from small inland waters. Nature Communications 15:717.

Ray, N.E., M.A. Holgerson, M. Rene Andersen, J. Bikše, L.E. Bortolotti, M. Futter, I. Kokorīte, A. Law, C. McDonald, J.P. Mesman, M. Peacock, D.C. Richardson, J. Arsenault, S. Bansal, K. Cawley, M. Kuhn, A. Reza Shahabinia, and F. Smufer. 2023. Spatial and temporal variability in summertime dissolved carbon dioxide and methane in temperate ponds and shallow lakes. Limnology and Oceanography 68:1530-1545.

Paterson, J.E., L.E. Bortolotti, and L. Boychuk. 2023. A wetland permanence classification tool to support prairie wetland conservation and policy implementation. Conservation Science and Practice 5:e12954.

Bortolotti, L.E., R.B. Emery, P.D. Kowal, L.M. Armstrong, V.B. Harriman, H.V. Singer, M.J. Anteau, F.B. Baldwin, C. Meuckon, and D.A. Wrubleski. 2023. Migrating ducks and submersed aquatic vegetation respond positively after invasive common carp (Cyprinus carpio) exclusion from a freshwater coastal marsh. Wetlands 43:25.

Holgerson, M.A., D.C. Richardson, J. Roith, L.E. Bortolotti, K. Finlay, D.J. Hornbach, K. Gurung, A. Ness, M.R. Andersen, S. Bansal, J.C. Finlay, J.A. Cianci-Gaskill, S. Hahn, B.D. Janke, C. McDonald, J.P. Mesman, R.L. North, C.O. Roberts, J.N. Sweetman, and J.R. Webb. 2022. Classifying mixing regimes in ponds and shallow lakes. Water Resources Research 58:e2022WR032522.

Holgerson, M.A., R.A. Hovel, P.T. Kelly, L.E. Bortolotti, J.A. Brentrup, A.R. Bellamy, S.K. Oliver, and A.J. Reisinger. 2022. Integrating ecosystem metabolism and consumer allochthony reveals nonlinear drivers in lake organic matter processing. Limnology and Oceanography: Article in press.

Zhang, Z., F. Chen, M Barlage, L.E. Bortolotti, J. Famiglietti, Z. Li, X. Ma, and Y. Li. 2022. Cooling effects revealed by modeling of wetlands and land-atmosphere interactions Water Resources Research 58:e2021WR030573.

Bortolotti, L.E., R.B. Emery, L.M. Armstrong, and D.W. Howerter. 2022. Landscape composition, climate variability, and their interaction drive water waterfowl nest survival in the Canadian Prairies. Ecosphere 13:e3908.

Buxton, R.T., J.R. Bennett, A.J. Reid, C. Shulman, S.J. Cooke, C.M. Francis, E.A. Nyboer, G. Pritchard, A.D. Binley, S. Avery-Gomm, N.C. Ban, K.F. Beazley, E. Bennett, L.K. Blight, L.E. Bortolotti, A.F. Camfield, F. Gadallah, A.L. Jocob, I. Naujokaitis-Lewis, C. Raudsepp-Hearne, D.G. Roche, F. Soulard, D. Strahlberg, K.D. Sadler, K.A. Solarik, C.D. Ziter, J. Brandt, C.W. McKindsey, D.A. Greenwood, P.C. Boxall, C.F. Ngolah, K.M.A. Chan, D. Lapen, S. Poser, J. Girard, C. DiBacco, S. Hayne, D. Orihel, D. Lewis, D. Littlechild, S.J. Marshall, L. McDermott, R. Whitlow, D. Browne, J. Sunday, and P.A. Smith. 2021. Key information needs to move from knowledge to action for biodiversity conservation in Canada. Biological Conservation 256:108983.

Zhang, Z., L.E. Bortolotti, Z. Li, L.M. Armstrong, T.W. Bell, and Y. Li. 2021. Heterogeneous changes to wetlands in the Canadian prairies under future climate. Water Resources Research 57:e2020WR028727.

Bortolotti, L.E., V.L. St. Louis, and R.D. Vinebrooke. 2019. Drivers of ecosystem metabolism in restored and natural prairie wetlands. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 76:2396-2407.

Mantyka-Pringle, C., L. Leston, D. Messmer, E. Asong, E.M. Bayne, L.E. Bortolotti, G. Sekulic, H. Wheater, D.W. Howerter, and R.G. Clark. 2019. Antagonistic, synergistic and direct effects of land use and climate on prairie wetland ecosystems: Ghosts of the past or present? Diversity and Distributions 25:1924-1940.

Bortolotti, L.E. 2017. Book review: Foundations of restoration ecology, second edition. Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin 26:60.

Guy-Haim, T., H. Alexander, T.W. Bell, R.L. Bier, L.E. Bortolotti, C. Briseño-Avena, X. Dong, A.M. Flanagan, J. Grosse, L. Grossmann, S. Hasnain, R. Hovel, C.A. Johnston, D.R. Miller, M. Muscarella, A.E. Noto, A.J. Reisinger, H.J. Smith, and K. Stamieszkin. 2017. What are the type, direction and strength of species, community, and ecosystem responses to warming in aquatic mesocosm studies and their dependency on experimental characteristics? A systematic review protocol. Environmental Evidence 6:6.

Harriman, V.B., R.D. Dawson, L.E. Bortolotti, and R.G. Clark. 2017. Seasonal patterns in reproductive success of temperate-breeding birds: Experimental tests of the date and quality hypotheses. Ecology and Evolution 7:2122-2132.

Kelly, P.T., T. Bell, A.J. Reisinger, T.L. Spanbauer, L.E. Bortolotti, J.A. Brentrup, C. Briseño-Avena, X. Dong, A.M. Flanagan, E.M. Follett, J. Grosse, T. Guy-Haim, M.A. Holgerson, R.A. Hovel, J.Y. Luo, N.C. Millette, A. Mine, M.E. Muscarella, S.K. Oliver, and H.J. Smith. 2017. Ecological dissertations in the aquatics sciences: An effective networking and professional development opportunity for early career aquatic scientists. Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin 26:25-30.

Bortolotti, L.E. 2016. Biological communities and ecosystem function in restored and natural prairie wetlands. Dissertation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Bortolotti, L.E., V.L. St. Louis, R.D. Vinebrooke, and A.P. Wolfe. 2016. Net ecosystem production and carbon fluxes in three prairie wetlands. Ecosystems 19:411-425.

Bortolotti, L.E., R.D. Vinebrooke, and V.L. St. Louis. 2016. Prairie wetland communities recover at different rates following hydrological restoration. Freshwater Biology 61:1874-1890.

Bortolotti, L.E., R.G. Clark, L.I. Wassenaar. 2013. Hydrogen isotope variability in prairie wetland systems: Implications for studies of migratory connectivity. Ecological Applications 23:110-121.

Bortolotti, L.E., V.B. Harriman, R.G. Clark, and R.D. Dawson. 2011. Can changes in provisioning by parent birds account for seasonally declining patterns of offspring recruitment. Canadian Journal of Zoology 89:921-928.

Jovani, R., J. Blas, L.E. Bortolotti, and G.R. Bortolotti. 2010. Fault bars and the risk of feather damage in cranes. Journal of Zoology 281:94-98.

Hanton, S.L., L.E. Bortolotti, L. Renna, G. Stefano, and F. Brandizzi. 2005. Crossing the divide- Transport between the endoplasmic reticulum and golgi apparatus in plants. Traffic 6:267-277.

Hanton, S.L., L. Renna, L.E. Bortolotti, L. Chatre, G. Stefano, and F. Brandizzi. 2005. Diacidic motifs influence the export of transmembrane proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum in plant cells. Plant Cell 17:3081-3093.

Renna, L., S.L. Hanton, G. Stefano, L. Bortolotti, V. Misra, and F. Brandizzi. 2005. Identification and characterization of AtCASP, a plant transmembrane Golgi matrix protein. Plant Molecular Biology 58:109-122.