Jennifer Burt

 


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Telephone                       (530) 752-8529

  e-mail kjrice[at]ucdavis.edu

 FAX  (530) 752-4361

Department of Plant Sciences

Mail Stop 1

One Shields Avenue

University of California Davis, CA  95616

 

 

 

 

 

Jennifer Williamson Burt

 

 

Department of Plant Sciences, Mail Stop 1

One Shields Avenue

University of California, Davis

Davis, CA 95616
Tel: +1-530-752-1701
Email me

 

 

(aka: Jennifer W. Burt, Jen Williamson, and “hey you!”)

 

 

 

Current Research                      Past Research                           Publications                  CV     

 

Current Research

I am currently a PhD student in the Ecology Graduate Group at UC Davis. My research interests are broad and mostly applied, they center on approaches to land management, restoration of degraded habitats, and control and policy relating to invasive species.  My dissertation research is focused on the ecology and management of active and abandoned ski slopes in the Sierra Nevada (California and Nevada, USA).

 In active ski areas, I am quantifying the effects of different methods of ski slope creation (grading and clearing) on ecosystem functions, including plant community composition, diversity, soil function and erosion potential.

  Some ski runs are machine graded to remove rocks, stumps, and slope irregularities, while others are only cleared of trees and other tall vegetation. I have found these two basic types of ski runs to differ greatly in terms of vegetation composition and diversity, and soil depth and compaction, among other measures.

In abandoned ski areas of the Northern Sierra, I am studying patterns of vegetation succession and recovery. During 2005 and 2006, I sampled vegetation and environmental characteristics in a large set of abandoned ski areas of differing ages. With this unique dataset, I am currently pursuing multiple questions, both conceptual and applied. Do abandoned ski areas recover spontaneously after abandonment? How is recovery affected by methods of creation, management, and abiotic factors? Are successional trajectories predictable based on age and abiotic environment, or contingent based on historical legacy? These abandoned ski areas present an interesting study system to improve understanding of fundamental processes of community assembly and to inform management of active ski areas.

    Abandoned ski areas present a consummate “unnatural” experiment on vegetation recovery following disturbance.

 

Past Research

Invasive species introductions via the horticulture and aquarium trades

As a long-term fellow in the NSF Biological Invasions IGERT program at UC Davis, I’ve been involved for the past several years in a collaborative graduate research group. We conducted two separate but related studies focused on invasive species introductions through the horticultural and aquarium trades. The first study, which I have been most intimately involved with as first author, examined the perceptions and behaviors of horticulture professionals relating to invasive plants introduced via the horticulture trade. We surveyed nursery professionals to assess their awareness and attitudes towards invasive plants, the role of the horticulture trade in invasive plant introductions, and participation in preventative practices put forth by the St. Louis Voluntary Codes of Conduct. This paper was published in the journal Biological Invasions in 2007.

Our second study analyzed potential invasiveness of fish species for sale at aquarium stores throughout the California Bay-Delta region, as well as perceptions and attitudes of aquarium store managers on the topic of invasive fish introductions. This study is currently in press in Biological Invasions.

 

Patterns of invasion by nonnative erosion control species

My Master’s thesis research, with Dr. Susan Harrison (also at UC Davis), analyzed patterns of invasion by exotic plants used for erosion control. Pipelines and roadsides associated with a gold mining operation (within what is now the Donald and Sylvia McLaughlin UC Natural Reserve) had been revegetated (ca. 16 years previously) with nonnative grass and legume species. I looked at invasion of several of these species into various adjacent undisturbed habitat types, and experimentally tested ecological factors promoting or inhibiting further invasion of these habitats by Dactylis glomerata (orchardgrass). This research was published in Ecological Applications in 2002.

   

Exotic revegetation species spread into adjacent serpentine meadow, serpentine seep, and oak woodland habitats, but did not invade serpentine chaparral.

 

Publications

Burt, J.W., A.A. Muir, J. Piovia-Scott, K.E. Veblen, A.L. Chang, J.D. Grossman, and H.W. Weiskel. 2007. Preventing horticultural introductions of invasive plants: Potential efficacy of voluntary initiatives. Biological Invasions 9(8): 909-923.

Williamson, J, and S. Harrison.  2002.  Biotic and abiotic limits to the spread of exotic revegetation species.  Ecological Applications 12: 40-51. 

Chang, A.L., J.D. Grossman, T. Sabol Spezio, H.W. Weiskel, J.C. Blum, J.W. Burt, A.A. Muir, J. Piovia-Scott, K.E. Veblen, and E.D. Grosholz. Tackling aquatic invasions: risks and opportunities for the aquarium industry. Biological Invasions (in press).

 Burt, J.W. Not all ski slopes are created equal: effects of grading on ecosystem function. In prep.