28 May 2019
Dr Alison Scott-Brown
Career Development Fellow
Protecting biodiversity and supporting ecosystem services requires an understanding of how organisms within the landscapes interact and contribute to flow of goods and services and how stable these beneficial interactions are with respect to anthropogenic change.
I investigate chemical and morphological traits in a range of species of plants which influence insect-plant interactions, using thrips to address questions on host-plant selection, natural resistance and pollination systems. My fellowship focuses on mutualisms between thrips and native trees and shrubs, as these symbiotic relationships are less frequently studied in temperate regions, in contrast to many tropical plant systems where thrips are increasingly acknowledged as primary pollinators. My aim is to use this knowledge to study how anthropogenic activities, particularly in relation to food production, can affect these finally balanced plant-insect systems.
- BSc (Hons), Horticulture, Univ. Reading, 1992
- PhD, Plant-insect interactions, Birkbeck College, Univ. London, 2002
Scott-Brown, A.S., Hodgetts, J., Hall, J., Simmonds, M.J.S & Collins D.W. (2018).
Potential role of botanic garden collections in predicting hosts at risk globally from invasive pests: a case study using Scirtothrips dorsalis.
Journal of Pest Science 91(2): 601-611.
Scott-Brown, A.S., Gregory, T., Farrell, I.W. & Stevenson P.C. (2016).
Leaf trichomes and foliar chemistry mediate defence against glasshouse thrips; Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis(Bouché) in Rhododendron simsii.
Functional Plant Biology 43(12):1170-1182.
Kokubun, T., Scott-Brown, A.S., Kite, G.C. & Simmonds, M.J.S. (2016).
Protoilludane, Illudane, Illudalane, and Norilludane Sesquiterpenoids from Granulobasidium vellereum.
Journal of Natural Products 79(6): 1698–1701.
Scott Brown, A.S., Veitch N.C & Simmonds, M.S.J. (2011).
Leaf Chemistry and Foliage Avoidance by the Thrips Frankliniella occidentalis and Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis in Glasshouse Collections.
Journal of Chemical Ecology 37: 301-310.
Scott Brown, A.S. & Simmonds, M.S.J. (2006).
Leaf morphology of hosts and non-hosts of the thrips Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis (Bouché).
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 152: 109-130.
