Mackinder, Barbara A.

Job Title

Legume systematist

Department

Herbarium, Library, Art & Archives

Section

Legumes

Science Teams:

Joined Kew: 1982

Foreign Language(s): Basic French

Qualifications & Appointments

BSc, Biological Sciences, NE Surrey College,1988

MSc (Distinction), Plant Biodiversity and Taxonomy, Univ. Edinburgh, 1999.

PhD, Univ. Edinburgh, 2006.

Role

Advancing knowledge in the Systematics, Conservation and Evolution of tropical African Leguminosae.

The exploration and explanation of legume diversity carried out in this role is pivotal to a positive outcome in the conservation of the wider African flora because the “legumes” are the most species rich family in tropical Africa. My research and that of my students is focussed on the legumes of subfamily Caesalpinioideae, tribe Detarieae which is a principally African taxon and at 80+ genera is the second largest tribe in the family. Detarioid legumes include economically important species such as Tamarindus indica (Tamarind), ecologically dominant species such as Gilbertiodendron dewevrii, tropical horticultural glories such as Schotia brachypetala and critically endangered conservation priorities such as the Ghanaian endemic species Talbotiella gentii. The role contributes to RBG Kew’s position as a global centre of tropical African research and methodologies employed are both multidisciplinary and collaborative. Recent and current projects include systematic studies and phylogenetic investigations of several genera including Berlinia, Cynometra, Guibourtia, Hymenostegia and Talbotiella. At higher taxonomic levels research includes species conservation studies of natural groups such as the ca 200 species in 18 genera that form the exclusively tropical African Berlinia group clade. The role also involves collaboration in an international effort to elucidate the phylogeny of the Leguminosae and to develop a lineage-based modern classification for the family.

 

Projects

Selected Recent Publications

  • Mackinder, B.A. & Pennington, R.T. (2011). Monograph of Berlinia (Leguminosae). Systematic Botany Monographs 91. The American Society of Plant Taxonomists. 117 pp.

  • Mackinder, B. Leguminosae subfamily Caesalpinioideae (2011). In: J.M. Onana and M.Cheek. Red Data Book. The Flowering Plants of Cameroon IUCN Global Assessments: 176 – 188, maps 470 – 475. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 578 pp.

  • Mackinder, B., Wieringa, J. & van der Burgt, X. (2010). A revision of the genus Talbotiella Baker f. (Caesalpinioideae: Leguminosae). Kew Bulletin 65 (3): 401-420.

  • Mackinder, B.A., Wieringa, J.J., Lunenburg, I. & Banks, H. (2010). Challenges and progress in clarifying the generic limits of Talbotiella and Hymenostegia (Detarieae: Caesalpinioideae: Leguminosae). Proceedings of the 18th AETFAT Congress, Yaoundé, Cameroon, 26 February - 2 March 2007: 43-56.

  • Estrella, M., Aedo, C., Mackinder, B. & Velayos, M. (2010). Taxonomic Revision of Daniellia (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae). Systematic Botany 35(2): 296–324.

Selected Earlier Publications

  • Mackinder, B. & van der Burgt, X.M. (2009). Berlinia korupensis (Leguminosae – Caesalpinioideae), a new tree species from Cameroon. Kew Bull. 64(1): 129-134.

  • Mackinder. B. & Wieringa, J.J. (2007). Novitates Gabonenses 58: Two new species of Berlinia (Leguminosae – Caesalpinioideae: Detarieae). Kew Bull. 62(1): 159-164.

  • Mackinder, B. A. & Harris, D.J. (2006). A synopsis of the genus Berlinia (Leguminosae – Caesalpinioideae). Edinburgh Journal of Botany 63 (2-3): 161-182.

  • Lewis, G., Schrire, B., Mackinder, B. & Lock, M. (2005). (eds) Legumes of the World. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 577 pp.

  • Mackinder, B.A. (2004). Leguminosae. In: Cheek, M., Pollard, B.J., Darbyshire, I., Onana, J.-M. & C. Wild. (eds) The plants of Kupe, Mwanenguba and the Bakossi Mountains, Cameroon: a conservation checklist. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 311-325.

Scientific Research & Data

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