Olivia Hajek

Postdoctoral Research Ecologist

 

 
Education:
PhD – 2023 – Ecology - Colorado State University
BS – 2017 – Biology - College of William and Mary

Research:

Dr. Olivia Hajek’s research focuses on understanding how changes in climate and climate extremes affect ecosystem structure and functioning, with a focus on semi-arid rangelands. Current research questions include comparing how different agroecosystems and management practices influence resilience to changes in climate and evaluating how soil moisture can be used as a management tool to inform decisions.

 

Publications:

Knapp A.K., Condon K.V., Folks C.C., Sturchio M.A., Griffin‐Nolan R.J., Kannenberg S.A., Gill A.S., Hajek O.L., Siggers J.A. and M.D. Smith. 2024. Field experiments have enhanced our understanding of drought impacts on terrestrial ecosystems—But where do we go from here? Functional Ecology 38(1):76-97. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14460

Hajek O.L. and A.K. Knapp. 2024. Signatures of autumn deluges revealed during spring drought in a semi-arid grassland. Oecologia 204(1):83-93. DOI: 10.1007/s00442-023-05488-6

Hajek O.L., Sturchio M.A., and A.K. Knapp. 2024. Experimental evidence supporting the seasonal availability of water hypothesis in a mixed C3/C4 grassland. Ecosystems 18:1-4. DOI: 10.1007/s10021-023-00896-4

Zhang Z, Zhang Z, Hautier Y, Qing H, Yang J, Bao T, Hajek O.L. and A.K. Knapp. 2023. Effects of intra-annual precipitation patterns on grassland productivity moderated by the dominant species phenology. Frontiers in Plant Science 14:1142786. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1142786

Hoover D.L., Hajek O.L., Smith M.D., Wilkins K., Slette I.J., and A.K. Knapp. 2022. Compound hydroclimatic extremes in a semi‐arid grassland: Drought, deluge, and the carbon cycle. Global Change Biology 28(8):2611-21. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16081

Sturchio M.A., Macknick J.E., Barron‐Gafford G.A., Chen A., Alderfer C., Condon K., Hajek O.L., Miller B., Pauletto B., Siggers J.A. and I.J. Slette. 2022. Grassland productivity responds unexpectedly to dynamic light and soil water environments induced by photovoltaic arrays. Ecosphere 13(12):e4334. DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4334

Hajek O.L. and A.K. Knapp. 2022. Shifting seasonal patterns of water availability: ecosystem responses to an unappreciated dimension of climate change. New Phytologist 233(1):119-25. DOI: 10.1111/nph.17728

Li X., Liu M., Hajek O.L. and G. Yin. 2021. Different Temporal Stability and Responses to Droughts between Needleleaf Forests and Broadleaf Forests in North China during 2001–2018. Forests 12(10):1331. DOI: 10.3390/f12101331

Reid J.L., Holmberg N.J., Albrecht M., Arango-Caro S., Hajek O., Long Q. and J. Trager. 2020. Annual understory plant recovery dynamics in a temperate woodland mosaic during a decade of ecological restoration. Natural Areas Journal 40(1):23-34. DOI: 10.3375/043.040.0104