Rubiaceae
Recent Achievements
Collections (2001-2005)
Each year 2,400 to 3,000 specimens are mounted and incorporated into the Rubiaceae section. The current accession rate for this section is estimated at 2,000 to 2,700 per annum. Each year 400 to 600 specimens are sent on loan and the section receives ten to 20 research visitors. The curation of the section is updated on the basis of new taxonomic revisions and species/genus descriptions.
Fieldwork. There is a focus on Madagascar and Africa, with collections being made by Kew staff in Madagascar (2001, 2004), Tanzania (2001), and Cameroon (2002). Fieldwork in Africa has been largely focused on collecting coffee specimens. In total, c. 600 targeted collections have been made by core Rubiaceae staff. In the Neotropics, collections are mainly based in Eastern Brazil (2000, 2004, 2005) and are targeting highly biodiverse regions in the Atlantic forest, where 200 specimens were collected together with DNA samples.
Baseline Plant Diversity Research (2001-2005)
Specimen databases. Maintenance and development of databases for Madagascar (c. 12,000 records), NE Brazil Repatriation (c. 2,000 records), Coffea (c. 3,500 records) and Rudgea (c. 6,000 records) have continued. The total number of Rubiacaeae records held in all Kew specimen databases is now c. 26,500 (includes the African Plant Initiative (API) figure of 1,674). The Madagascar database has been linked to a GIS. In 2003, Kew’s coffee database (mostly East Africa) was merged with a database from Meise Botanic Garden (West and Central Africa). The shared African Coffee Specimen Database now forms a significant resource for future conservation work.
Checklists. A checklist for the Rubiaceae of NE Brazil was published in 2002. A checklist for the Rubiaceae of Bioko and Annobon (Equatorial Guinea, Gulf of Guinea) (c. 150 spp.) was submitted in 2004. Advanced drafts of regional checklists for Australia (c. 320 spp.) and Madagascar (c. 600 spp.), have been completed. An annotated World Coffee Checklist (c. 100 spp.), including conservation assessments, was submitted in 2005.
Funding to complete the World Rubiaceae Checklist (c. 13,500 spp.) was secured from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) in September 2004. The project supported by a 51 week FTA Verification Co-ordinator (Markus Ruhsam) from the beginning of February 2005. Major milestones included a draft checklist on the internet in August 2005 and a final internet version available at the beginning of 2006. It is envisaged that a hard copy version will be published in 2007. The World Rubiaceae Checklist & Bibliography (R. Govaerts et al.) will be a significant Kew product, covering c. 4% of angiosperms, and will be a major step towards Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation - a widely accessible working list of known plant species, as a step towards a complete world flora.
Floras.
Flora Zambesiaca (vol. 5, part 3) was published in 2004, authored by D. Bridson and B. Verdcourt. D. Zappi has completed three regional revisions of Rudgea for the Flora of Ecuador (18 spp.), S and SE Brazil (29 spp.) and for the Flora of the Venezuelan Guayanas (13 spp.).
Monographs.
A. Davis and D. Bridson published monographs of Dolianthus (13 spp.) and Amaracarpus (30 spp.). In collaboration with S. Malcomber (MBG), A. Davis revised the genus Hymenocnemis (6 spp.). Regional revisions of Psychotria for the Philippine Archipelago (112 spp.) and São Tomé e Príncipe (6 spp.) were completed and published, respectively, in 2005 by A. Davis in collaboration with co-workers.
New taxa.
The Rubiaceae section published c. 50 new taxa (mostly species), 40 new names (mostly new combinations), and one new genus.
Comparative Plant Biology (2001-2005)
The Coffee Phylogeny Project started in 2001, with the objective of producing a ‘family tree’ for coffee within three years. To date, c. 75% of all coffee species have been sequenced for four DNA regions. A general hypothesis of species relationships is now available. Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) methods have also been used, with the aim of elucidating more detailed phylogenetic information on closely related species groups (e.g. from very recent radiations, such as in Madagascar). An investigation covering Coffea relatives (the tribe Coffeeae), using plastid sequence data, has also been undertaken. Funding for the Coffee Phylogeny Project ended in August 2005.
A comparative morphological investigation of Coffea subgenus Baracoffea, and its relationship to Coffea subgenus Coffea and the genus Psilanthus, was published in 2005. A molecular and morphological analysis of the genus Hymenocnemis, was published in the same year. Both of these papers have been written in collaboration with international co-workers.
A study on the molecular systematics of the tribe Octotropideae (c. 30 genera) was initiated in 2002, as a collaborative project with the Bergius Foundation, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. So far sequences have been collected for c. 10 genera and morphological investigations are underway for the African, Madagascan and Mascarene species.
Sustainable Utilisation of Plant Resources (2001-2005)
In 2001 we became actively involved with the sustainable development of coffee genetic resources by providing baseline data for in situ and ex situ conservation of wild species. Most coffee species cannot be conserved within traditional seeds banks, and so there is now a drive to preserve material in situ within nature reserves and ex situ in coffee research stations. As a first step towards providing critical baseline data we have now produced a complete World Coffee Checklist. Each species/taxon entry includes basic taxonomic data (author, place of publication, type), main literature reference, distribution, ecology, and a conservation assessment. The checklist was submitted for publication in 2005 and will be available on the internet in 2007. This is a joint project between Kew and the National Botanic Garden of Belgium. Ongoing work includes the development of a coffee specimen database (linked to a GIS), interactive identification tools (including scanned line-art, type specimens and photographs) and access to genetic distance data (e.g. AFLP data and analyses).
Conservation and Environmental Monitoring (2001-2005)
Approximately 250 species have been assessed for conservation status using the criteria set by the IUCN. None of these have been sent to the IUCN for verification but at least 30 are now in the public domain, with over 200 in press. Work completed in 2005 will see another 200 IUCN assessments in the public domain by the end of 2005.
Two papers published in 2004 include data and discussion on endangered habitats in Tanzania and Madagascar. Information on Endangered and Critically Endangered Rubiaceae species has been passed on to a mining company in SE Madagascar and now forms part of their in situ and ex situ conservation planning. Identification of Rubiaceae within a potential mining site in central Madagascar has been undertaken, and data on range-restricted taxa have been provided.
Café Marron (Ramosmania rodriguesii) is one of the world's rarest plants with one tree remaining in the wild. Until recently it could only be propagated by stem cuttings but Kew has now been successful in producing fruits from plant growth regulator treated plants. This will enable the propagation of plants by seed, both in vitro and in vivo, and enable banking of seeds in the MSBP, Wakehurst Place. Over the next three years the project aims to raise a collection of seed-derived progenies in vitro and develop a new generation of genetically diverse plants.