Doctor Travis Britton
Travis joined the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment as a postdoctoral research fellow in April 2022. Travis is working with Distinguished Professor Ian Wright, as part of the Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture. He is currently researching adaptation to water and heat stress in Eucalyptus, as part of a larger project in the CoE.
Travis received his Bachelor of Science with Honours (Ecology) from the University of Queensland in 2016 under the supervision of Prof. Margie Mayfield. He completed his PhD in 2022 at the University of Tasmania, supervised by Professor Mark Hovenden, Professor Tim Brodribb and Dr Shane Richards. Travis’ PhD research explored neighbourhood effects on tree growth and survival, with a focus on competition for water among co-occurring trees.
Areas of research
Plant community ecology, plant ecophysiology, plant hydraulics, climate change biology.
Grants and awards
- Fulbright Future Postdoctoral Scholarship 2022: University of California Santa Barbara (host: Anna Trugman).
Considering ecological complexity to accurately predict drought-induced tree death: integrating competition and biotic attack with plant physiology. - Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (3 years, $19 290 AUD)
- Neighbourhood effects in a temperate eucalypt forest.
- Gottstein Forest Industry Scholarship – Gottstein Trust ($15 000, 3 years).
Selected publications
Britton TG, Brodribb TJ, Richards SA, Ridley C, Hovenden MJ (2022) 'Canopy damage during a natural drought depends on species identity, physiology and stand composition', New Phytologist, vol.233, no.5, pp 2058-2070
Britton TG, Hovenden MJ, Porter M, Flittner A, Brinkhoff R, Mayfield MM, (2021) 'Plant communities, populations and individuals have distinct response to short-term warming and neighbour biomass removal in two montane grasslands', Applied Vegetation Science, vol.24, Article no.e12557
Gerwin RM, Brinkhoff R, Britton TG, Porter M, Mallet RG, Hovenden MJ, (2020) 'Testing the impact of community composition on the productivity of a cool temperate eucalypt forest: the Australian Forest Evenness Experiment (AFEX)', Australian Journal of Botany, vol.68, no.4, pp 310-319
