I conduct research to understand how the distributions and local abundances of species change as a result of interacting ecological and evolutionary processes. My research advances the fields of ecology and evolution, and answers critical questions about how species will respond to major global environmental changes, including climate change, habitat destruction, and biological invasions. At its core, my research program is working toward a process-based understanding of the conservation and management of threatened and invasive species. My current projects include work on the effects of evolution and landscape structure on how quickly spatial locations of species can move, and how life histories of plants (e.g. size at flowering) evolve under changing climates.

2026

Worthy, S. J., J. C. Luong, B. E. Wainwright, J. Aguiñaga, H. Auge, A. C. Barcu, A. Batbaatar, K. H. Beard, E. W. Bork, K. E. Brafford, K. M. Byrne, J. F. Cahill, M. Carbognani, C. N. Carlyle, K. Castillioni, M. H. Chandregowda, S. X. Chang, J. Chieppa, A. C. Churchill, J. E. Cribbs, T. Deola, J. S. Dukes, A. Ebeling, N. Eisenhauer, E. C. Elwood, R. A. Fairbanks, T. G. W. Forte, F. A. Funk, A. K. Gujral, S. V. Haugum, Y. Hautier, H. A. L. Henry, F. Isbell, A. Jentsch, S. E. Jordan, S. E. Koerner, J. Kreyling, G. Kröel-Dulay, A. Kulmatiski, E. G. Lamb, M. E. Loik, M. G. Longo, A. Loydi, D. J. Macarthur-Waltz, C. Milano, J. W. Morgan, A. S. Mori, S. M. Munson, G. S. Newman, U. N. Nielsen, R. C. O’Connor, T. J. Ohlert, B. B. Osborne, R. Otfinowski, M. Pärtel, P. L. Peri, G. Peter, A. Petraglia, J. M. Piñeiro-Guerra, L. W. Ploughe, C. Portales-Reyes, S. A. Power, S. M. Prober, Y. Pueyo, C. Roscher, B. A. Santos, M. D. Smith, L. A. Souza, A. Stampfli, R. J. Standish, M. Sünnemann, M. J. Tedder, P. Thorvaldsen, K. Tielbörger, A. Valdecantos, L. Van Den Brink, V. Vandvik, L. G. Velle, J. L. Williams, A. A. Wolf, L. Yahdjian, A. L. Young, J. M. Zeberio, M. Zeiter, R. P. Phillips, and J. L. Funk. 2026. Growth form and lifespan of herbaceous species mediate the role of traits in short-term drought response. Nature ecology & evolution 10(3). Springer Nature: 512–522. doi: 10.1038/s41559-026-02989-4.

2025

Williams, J. L., A. L. Angert, A. Compagnoni, A. Campbell, M. L. DeMarche, M. E. K. Evans, J. C. Fowler, E. J. González, A. M. Iler, J. A. Loesberg, A. M. Louthan, A B. Jimenez Martin, J. K. Moutouama, S. W. Nordstrom, W. K. Petry, B. Şen, S. N. Sheth, and T.E.X. Miller. 2025. Linking climate and demography to predict population dynamics and persistence under global change, Ecology Letters 28: e70283. doi: 10.1111/ele.70283.

Loesberg, J.A. and J. L. Williams. 2025. Seasonal climate drives population growth but not costs of reproduction of a perennial wildflower. Ecology 106: e70240. doi:10.1002/ecy.70240.

M. E. K. Evans, P. B. Adler, A. Angert, S. Dey, M. P. Girardin, K. A. Heilman, S. Klesse, D. L. Perret, D. F. Sax, S. N. Sheth, M. Stemkovski and J. L. Williams. 2025. Reconsidering space-for-time substitution in climate change ecology. Nature Climate Change (invited comment) 15: 809-812. doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02392-0

Ohlert, T., M. D. Smith and 169 co-authors, including J. L. Williams. 2025. Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity. Science 390: 284-289. doi:  10.1126/science.ads8144

McHugh, E. E., Urquhart, C. A., N. Lustenhouwer and J. L. Williams. 2025. Interspecific competition reduces seed dispersal in an annual plant and slows simulated range expansions. Oikos: e10792. doi:10.1111/oik.10792

2024

Kharouba, H. M., and J. L. Williams. 2024. Forecasting species’ responses to climate change using space-for-time substitution. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 39(8). Elsevier: 716–725. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2024.03.009.

Smith, M.D. Wilkins, K.D…Williams, J.L. Wolf, A.A. Zeiter, M. Zhang, F. Zhu, J. Zong, N. and X. Zuo. 2024. Extreme drought impacts have been underestimated in grasslands and shrublands globally. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 121 (4). doi: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2309881120

2023

Nikkel, E.K. Clements, D.R. Anderson, D. and J. L. Williams. 2023. Regional habitat suitability for aquatic and terrestrial invasive plant species may expand or contract with climate change. Biological Invasions 25: 3805- 3822. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03139-8

Moerman, F., Lustenhouwer, N. Altermatt, F. Bassar, R. Bocedi, G. Bonte, D. Dey, S. Fronhofer, E. A. Garcez de Rocha, E. Giometto, A. Lancaster, L. Prather Jr., R. Saastamoinen, M. Travis, J. Urquhart, C. Weiss–Lehman, C. Williams, J. L. Börger, L. and D. Berger. 2023. Experimental evolution of dispersal: unifying theory, experiments and natural systems. Journal of Animal Ecology (in press).

Williams, J. L. and E. M. West. 2023. Implications of climate change for biocontrol efficacy across the northern range of the invasive plant Linaria dalmatica. Biological Control 179: 105174.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2023.105174

Smith, L. J. and J. L. Williams. 2023. Plant and herbivorous insect communities respond in complex ways to rainfall manipulation in an oak savanna grassland. Journal of Ecology 111: 655–665. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365–2745.14053

2021

Urquhart, C. A. and J. L. Williams. 2021. Trait correlations and landscape fragmentation jointly alter expansion speed via evolution at the leading edge in simulated range expansions. Theoretical Ecology doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12080-021-00503-z

Srivastava, D. S. Coristine, L. Angert, A. L. Bontrager, M. Amundrud, S. L. Williams, J. L. Yeung, A. C. Y. De Zwaan, D. R., Thompson, P. L., Aitken, S. N., Sunday, J. M., O’Connor, M. I., Whitton, J., Brown, N. E. M., MacLeod, C. D., Parfrey, L. W., Bernhardt, J. R., Carrillo, J., Harley, C. D. G., Martone, P. T., Freeman, B. G., Tseng, M., and S. D. Donner. 2021. Wildcards in climate change biology. Ecological Monographs 91 ( 4). doi: 10.1002/ecm.1471