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
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.
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.