Jeff Ott

Jeff Ott

Ph.D. student working with Robert Peet
Biology Program

Phone: 919-962-6934

Fax: 919-962-6930

Office: 409 Coker Hall

Mailing Address:
Department of Biology, CB#3280, Coker Hall
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3280

Research Interests: Plant Community Ecology, Biogeography, Floristics, Landscape Ecology, Conservation Biology, Restoration Ecology, Phylogenetics, Ecoinformatics

I am currently studying patterns of niche overlap among plant species at landscape to regional scales. I utilize databases derived from extensive field surveys to model and map niche affinities. Zion National Park and the Southern Appalachians are my current focal study areas. I am particularly interested in the influence of phylogenetic niche conservatism on species distributions.

I have also worked extensively with the U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station in studies related to vegetation, restoration and management of public lands in the Intermountain West.

I was a volunteer at the Iracambi Atlantic Rainforest Research and Conservation Center, Brazil, 2001-2002:

Publications, Posters, & Reports:

Ott, J.E. 2008. Sharpening the focus of community patterns by adjusting phylogenetic scale. pp. 135-136 In Mucina, L, J.M. Kalwij and V.R. Smith, eds. Frontiers of Vegetation Science-An Evolutionary Angle: Abstracts of presentations at the 51st Annual Symposium of the International Association for Vegetation Science, Stellenbosch, South Africa, September 7-12, 2008.

Ott, J.E, E.D. McArthur and S.C. Sanderson. In Press. Vegetation dynamics at a Mojave Desert restoration site, 1992-2007. Proceedings of the 15th Wildland Shrub Symposium: Wildlands and Wildlife Habitats.

Ott, J.E. 2007. A Comparative Study of Plant Niches at Zion National Park. Poster presented at the 9th Biennial Conference of Research on the Colorado Plateau, Flagstaff, AZ. (references)

Ott, J.E., S.C. Sanderson and E.D. McArthur. 2006. Coalition clustering of plant communities at Zion National Park, Utah . Poster presented at the 91 st annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Memphis, TN.

Sanderson, S.C., J.E. Ott, E.D. McArthur, and K.T. Harper. 2006. RClus, a new program for clustering associated species: a demonstration using a Mojave Desert plant community dataset. Western North American Naturalist 66:285-297.

Ott, J.E., E.D. McArthur, and B.A. Roundy. 2003. Vegetation of chained and non-chained seedings after wildfire in Utah. Journal of Range Management 56:81-91.

Ott, J.E. 2003. Land Cover Classification and Forest Patch Distribution at Iracambi, MG, Brazil.

Ott, J.E. 2002. Vegetation Survey of a Secondary-growth Forest Patch at Fazenda Iracambi, MG, Brazil.

Ott, J.E., S.C. Sanderson, and E.D. McArthur. 2001. Plant community dynamics of burned and unburned sites in the sagebrush and pinyon-juniper zones of the Great Basin. pp. 177-191 In McArthur, E.D., and D.J. Fairbanks, compilers. Proceedings of the 11th Wildland Shrub Symposium: Shrubland Ecosystem Genetics and Biodiversity. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Ogden, Utah.