People
Paton, Alan
| Job Title | Assistant Herbarium Keeper, Biodiversity Information and Conventions |
|---|---|
| Department | Herbarium |
| Section | Biodiversity Information and Conventions |
| Science Teams |
Conventions and Policies Large-Scale Syntheses Drylands: Africa Wet Tropics: SE Asia Lamiaceae |
| Joined Kew | 1990 |
| Foreign Language(s) | French |
Qualifications & Appointments
BSc (Hons), Univ. Edinburgh, 1986
PhD, Univ. Edinburgh, 1989.
Coordination Mechanism, Global Taxonomy Initiative of the CBD
Plants Conservation Committee, IUCN-SSC.
Role
Management
of the Biodiversity Information and Convention Section of the Herbarium;
Lamiaceae research; implementation of Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC).
My principal role
is to manage the staff of the Biodiversity Information and Conventions section
and to seek ways of maximizing the impact of information held within the
herbarium collection on conservation and sustainable use. This includes supervision of the following teams: Capacity Building and Conventions, Collections Management
Unit, Herbarium Digitisation, GIS, World Checklists and the International Plant
Names Index, Morphometrics and Identification Aids, . Other roles include
liaising with the Secretariat of the CBD on progress on Target 1 of the Global
Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC - a widely accessible list of all known
plant species). Strong interest in developing preliminary conservation
assessments (Target 2 GSPC) from specimen data. Leading the
cross-departmental Lamiaceae team, with own research centred on African and
Asian Labiatae, writing accounts of the family for ‘Flora of Thailand’ and
‘Flora Zambesiaca’. Also pursuing monographic and phylogenetic research in
tribe Ocimeae and have published several multidisciplinary papers on Ocimum
(basil) .
Projects
Authentication and Chemical Fingerprinting of Economically Important Species
Chemosystematics and Biological Activity of Lamiaceae
Co-Evolution at the Plant-Animal Interface
Diversity of Biologically Active Plants and Plant-Derived Compounds
European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy (EDIT)
Global Overview of Lamiaceae and Related Families
International Plant Names Index (IPNI)
Kew Record of Taxonomic Literature
Medicinal Plant Name Index (MPNI)
Medicinal Uses of British Plants
Systematics of Lamiaceae Subfamily Viticoideae
Systematics, Sustainable Use and Conservation of Tribe Ocimeae (Basil and Allies, Lamiaceae)
Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation - Global Checklists
Understanding and Conserving the Earth’s Biodiversity Hotspots (HOTSPOTS) - COMPLETED
World Classification and Phylogeny of Salicaceae sensu stricto
Selected Recent Publications
Paton, A.J., Bramley, G., Ryding, O., Polhill, R.M., Harvey, Y.B., Iwarsson, M., Willis, F, Phillipson, P.B., Balkwill, K., Lukhoba, C.W., Oteino, D., & Harley, R.M. in Beetje, H.J., Ghazanfar, S.A. & Polhill, R.M. (eds) (2009). Flora of East Tropical Africa. Lamiaceae (Labiatae). 430 pp. RBG Kew.
Paton, A.J., Brummitt, N., Govaerts, R., Harman, K. Hinchcliffe, S., Allkin, R. & NicLughadha, E. (2008). Towards Target 1 Of The Global Strategy For Plant Conservation: A Working List Of All Known Plant Species – Progress and Prospects. Taxon 57: 602–611
Paton, A., Williams, C. & Davis, K. (2006). Taxonomy in the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity. In Jury, S. & Leadlay, E. (eds) Taxonomy and Plant Conservation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 18-28.
Lukhoba, C.W., .Simmonds, M.S.J & Paton, A.J. (2006). Plectranthus: A review of ethnobotanical uses. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 103: 1-24
Paton, A., Williams*, C. & Davis, K.
(2006). Taxonomy in the implementation of the Convention on Biological
Diversity. In Jury, S. & Leadlay, E. (eds) Taxonomy and Plant Conservation.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 18-28.
Selected Earlier Publications
Kirkup, D., Malcolm, P., Christian, G. & Paton, A. (2005). Towards a digital African Flora. Taxon 54 (2): 457-466.
Paton, A.J., Springate, D., Suddee, S. Otieno, D., Grayer, R.J., Harley, M.M., Willis, F., Simmonds, M.S.J., Powell, M.P., & Savolainen, V. (2004). Phylogeny and Evolution of Basils and Allies (Ocimeae, Labiatae) based on three Plastid DNA Regions. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31: 277-299.
Suddee, S., Paton, A.J., & Parnell, J.A.N. (2004). A Taxonomic Revision of tribe Ocimeae Dumort. (Lamiaceae) in continental South East Asia. III. Ociminae. Kew Bulletin 60: 3-75.
Willis, F., Moat, J. & Paton, A. (2003). Defining a role for herbarium data in Red List assessments: A case study of Plectranthus from East and Southern Tropical Africa. Biodiversity and Conservation 12: 1537-1552.
