Doctor Craig Barton

Dr Craig BartonDr Craig Barton is the Technical Manager - Field Based Research Facilities and leads a team of specialised technical staff and has responsibility for the smooth operation of the Institute’s field-based climate change facilities located on the Hawkesbury campus of UWS.  These facilities include CO2 /climate controlled whole tree chambers (WTC) and associated eucalypt plantation (Hawkesbury Forest Experiment, HFE), a Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiment in native woodland, Rain-out Shelters and an Eddy Covariance Flux site. 

Craig took up this position in UWS in 2012 but has been working collaboratively with staff at the Hawkesbury campus since 2005. He formerly held a role as Senior research Scientist with NSW DPI (State Forests) and was instrumental in the establishment and running of the Whole Tree Chamber facility at UWS. He obtained his PhD from Edinburgh University in 1997 where he studied the Effects of elevated CO2 on growth and physiology of Sitka spruce using a range of facilities including controlled glasshouses, open top chambers and branch bags. He held a NERC Research Fellowship at the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology in Edinburgh where he worked as a modeller investigating the ability of remote sensing to detect pollution stress in vegetation. He moved to Australia to take up a position with State Forests NSW in 2000 where he carried out research into carbon sequestration and carbon accounting for forests, tree water use and dryland salinity, and climate change impacts on eucalypts.

Areas of Research/Teaching Expertise

Craig has worked and published across a range of fields including Tree ecophysiology, remote sensing, tree water use, ground penetrating radar, allometrics, elevated CO2

Technical Expertise

  • Extensive experience with a range of instrumentation used in ecophysiological studies including data loggers, portable gas exchange systems, spectral radiometers, LAI measurement.
  • Designed and built controlled growth facilities and gas exchange systems and written control software for complex systems such as branch bags, open top chambers and whole tree chambers.

Selected publications

Medlyn BE, Duursma RA, Eamus D, Ellsworth DS, Colin Prentice I, Barton CVM, Crous KY, de Angelis P, Freeman M, Wingate L, (2012) 'Corrigendum: Reconciling the optimal and empirical approaches to modelling stomatal conductance', Global Change Biology, vol.18, no.11, p 3476

Barton CVM, Duursma RA, Medlyn BE, Ellsworth DS, Eamus D, Tissue DT, Adams MA, Conroy J, Crous KY, Liberloo M, Löw M, Linder S, McMurtrie RE, (2011) 'Effects of elevated atmospheric [CO2] on instantaneous transpiration efficiency at leaf and canopy scales in Eucalyptus saligna', Global Change Biology, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02526.x

Duursma RA, Barton CVM, Eamus D, Medlyn BE, Ellsworth DS, Forster MA, Tissue DT, Linder S, McMurtrie RE, Phillips N,  (2011) 'Rooting depth explains [CO2] x drought interaction in Eucalyptus saligna', Tree Physiology, vol.31, pp 922-931

Medlyn BE, Duursma RA, Eamus D, Ellsworth DS, Prentice IC, Barton CVM, Crous KY, De Angelis P, Freeman M, Wingate L, (2011) 'Reconciling the optimal and empirical approaches to modelling stomatal conductance', Global Change Biology, vol.17, no.6, pp 2134-2144

Barton CVM, Ellsworth DS, Medlyn BE, Duursma RA, Tissue DT,  Adams MA, Eamus D, Conroy JP, McMurtrie RE, Parsby J, Linder S, (2010) 'Whole-tree chambers for elevated atmospheric CO2 experimentation and tree-scale flux measurements in south-eastern Australia: the Hawkesbury Forest Experiment', Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, vol.150, pp 941-951

Dieleman WIJ, Luyssaert S, Rey A, De Angelis P, Barton CVM, Broadmeadow MSJ, Broadmeadow SB, Chigwerewe KS, Crookshanks M, Dufrêne E, Jarvis PG, Kasurinen A,  Kellomäki S, Le Dantec V, Liberloo M, Marek M, Medlyn B, Pokorný R, Scarascia-Mugnozza G, Temperton VM, Tingey D, Urban O, Ceulemans R, Janssens IA, (2010) 'Soil [N] modulates soil C cycling in CO2-fumigated tree stands: a meta-analysis', Plant, Cell and Environment, vol.33, pp 2001-2011

Johnson IG, Kathuria A, Parekh J, Barton C, (2009) 'Low-rainfall species trials in New South Wales Part 1: Survival, growth and form over the first 57 months', Australian Forestry, vol.72, pp 172-183

Morgan HD, Barton CVM, (2008) 'Forest-scale sap flux responses to rainfall in a dryland eucalyptus plantation', Plant and Soil, vol.305, no 1-2, pp 131-144

Walsh PG, Barton CVM, Haywood A, (2008) 'Growth and carbon sequestration rates at age ten years of some eucalypt species in the low- to medium-rainfall areas of New South Wales, Australia', Australian Forestry, vol.71, no.1, pp 70-77

Barton CVM, Montagu KD, (2005) 'Effect of spacing and water availability on root: shoot ratio in Eucalyptus camaldulensis', Forest Ecology and Management, vol.221, pp 52-62

Montagu KD, Duttmer K, Barton CVM, Cowie A, (2005)  'Developing general allometric relationships  for regional estimates of carbon sequestration – an example using Eucalyptus pilularis from seven contrasting sites', Forest Ecology and Management, vol.204, pp 115-129

Barton CVM, Montagu KD, (2004) 'Detection of tree roots and determination of root diameters by ground penetrating radar under optimal conditions', Tree Physiology, vol.24, pp 1323-1331

Zeppel MJB, Murray BR, Barton CVM, Eamus D, (2004) 'Seasonal responses of xylem sap velocity to VPD and solar radiation during drought in a stand of native trees in temperate Australia', Functional Plant Biology, vol.31, pp 461-470

Temperton VM, Grayston, SJ, Jackson G, Barton CVM, Millard P, Jarvis PG, (2003) 'Effects of elevated carbon dioxide concentration on growth and nitrogen fixation in Alnus glutinosa in a long-term field experiment', Tree Physiology, vol.23, pp 1051-1059

Barton CVM, (2001) 'A theoretical analysis of the influence of heterogeneity in chlorophyll distribution on leaf reflectance', Tree Physiology, vol.21, pp 789-795

Barton CVM, North PRJ, (2001) 'Remote sensing of canopy light use efficiency using the photochemical reflectance index - model and sensitivity analysis', Remote Sensing of Environment, vol.78, pp 264-273

Medlyn BE, Barton CVM, Broadmeadow MSJ, Ceulemans R, De Angelis P, Forstreuter M, Freeman M, Jackson SB, Kellomaki S, Laitat E, Rey A, Roberntz P, Sigurdsson BD, Strassemeyer J, Wang K, Curtis PS, Jarvis PG, (2001) 'Stomatal conductance of forest species after long-term exposure to elevated CO2 concentration: a synthesis', New Phytologist, vol.149, pp 247-264

Barton CVM, Jarvis PG, (1999) 'Growth response of branches of Picea sitchensis to four years exposure to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration', New Phytologist, vol.144, pp 233-243

Medlyn BE, Badeck FW, de Pury DGG, Barton CVM, Broadmeadow M, Ceulemans R, de Angelis P, Forstreuter, M, Jach  ME, Kellomäki S, Laitat E, Marek M, Philippot S, Rey A, Strassemeyer J, Laitinen K, Liozon R, Portier B, Roberntz P, Wang K, Jarvis PG, (1999) 'Effects of elevated [CO2] on photosynthesis in European forest species: a meta-analysis of model parameters', Plant Cell and Environment, vol.22, pp 1475-1495

Barton CVM, Lee HSJ, Jarvis PG, (1993) 'A branch bag and CO2 control system for long-term CO2 enrichment of mature Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.)', Plant Cell and Environment, vol.16, pp 1139-1148
 

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Eucalyptus Leaf