Peter Wilfred James (1930–2014) was an English botanist and lichenologist. He was a pioneer in the study of lichens as environmental indicators, especially of atmospheric pollution.[1]

Scholia has a profile for Peter Wilfred James (Q21387635).

Peter W. James grew up in Sutton Coldfield, which was then a rural suburb of Birmingham. His father was a headteacher. He graduated with a First class B.Sc. in botany from the University of Liverpool. There he enrolled as a Ph.D. student with the intention of studying lichenology, but never completed his doctorate. At this time very few scientists specialised in the study of lichens. In 1955 he started work at London's Natural History Museum initially as a summer student and then as a lichen specialist. He spent his career there, became a deputy Keeper of Botany. During his career he had a central role in the development of lichenology in the UK. As well as mentoring and collaborating with new lichenologists, he published extensively and was active in forming an academic community. His influence was felt by the lichenologists Oliver Gilbert, David Hawksworth, Mark Seaward, Pat Wolseley and Brian Fox. He retired in 1990 and died in 2014. He was never married.[1]

James was primarily a field scientist both personally surveying many sites in the British Isles and leading others in the UK and abroad including to temperate South America as well as Australia, New Zealand and the Atlantic islands. However he also had a very substantial role in the organisation and publication of works about lichen taxonomy.[1] Lichenology in the UK was improved by his own and collaborative books about lichen identification, especially his New Checklist of British Lichens (1965) and his contributions to Ursula Duncan's Introduction to British Lichens (1970) and Lichen Flora of Great Britain and Ireland (1992) edited by Ole William Purvis.[3][4]

James was also the author or co-author of several scientific publications that made significant advances to the knowledge of lichen morphology, taxonomy and community ecology. These included on the nature of cephalodia,[5][2] the genus of foliose lichens Nephroma[6][7] and the first overview of lichen communities in the British Isles.[8]

James was also important in the founding of several scientific organisations and journals about lichenology. In 1958 he was one of the founders of the British Lichen Society. From 1958 to 1977 he was the editor of the British Lichen Society's journal The Lichenologist. He was also founder member, acting treasurer and first president of the International Association for Lichenology and co-ordinated its first field meeting in the Austrian Alps in 1971.[1]

Selected publications

• James, P. W. (2007). "A New Check-List of British Lichens". The Lichenologist. 3 (1): 95–153. doi:10.1017/S0024282965000130. ISSN 0024-2829.
• James, P. W. (1970). "The Lichen Flora of Shaded Acid Rock Crevices and Overhangs in Britain". The Lichenologist. 4 (4): 309–322. doi:10.1017/S0024282970000403.
• James, P. W.; Vězda, A. (1971). "Melanophloea P. James & Vězda, A New Lichen Genus". The Lichenologist. 5 (1–2): 89–91. doi:10.1017/S0024282971000112.
• Rose, F.; James, P. W. (1974). "Regional Studies on the British Lichen Flora I. The Corticolous and Lignicolous Species of the New Forest, Hampshire". The Lichenologist. 6: 1–72. doi:10.1017/S002428297400003X.
• James, P. W.; Henssen, Aino (1976). "Morphological and taxonomic significance of cephalodia". In Brown, D. H.; Hawksworth, D. L.; Bailey, R. H. (eds.). Lichenology: Progress and Problems; Proceedings of an International Symposium held at the University of Bristol in April 1974. Systematics Association special volume, no. 8. London; New York: Published for the Systematics Association and the British Lichen Society by Academic Press. ISBN 978012136750320 symposium papers; xii+551 pages, 33 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) (over 175 citations)
• James, P. W.; Hawksworth, David L.; Rose, Francis (1977). "Lichen communities in the British Isles: a preliminary conspectus". In Seaward, M.R.D. (ed.). Lichen Ecology. Academic Press. pp. 295–413.
• Bailey, R. H.; James, P. W. (1979). "Birds and the Dispersal of Lichen Propagules". The Lichenologist. 11: 105–106. doi:10.1017/S0024282979000141. (over 60 citations)
• Hawksworth, D. L.; James, P. W.; Coppins, B. J. (1980). "Checklist of British Lichen-Forming, Lichenicolous and Allied Fungi". The Lichenologist. 12: 1–115. doi:10.1017/S0024282980000035. (over 250 citations)
• Jørgensen, P. M.; James, P. W. (1983). "Studies on Some Leptogium Species of Western Europe". The Lichenologist. 15 (2): 109–125. doi:10.1017/S0024282983000183.
• Elix, JA; Jones, AJ; Lajide, LCBJ; James, PW (1984). "Two new diphenyl ethers and a new depside from the lichen Micarea prasina Fr". Australian Journal of Chemistry. 37 (11): 2349. doi:10.1071/CH9842349.
• Galloway, D. J.; James, P. W. (1985). "The Lichen Genus Psoromidium Stirton". The Lichenologist. 17 (2): 173–188. doi:10.1017/S0024282985000226.
• Purvis, O. W.; James, P. W. (1985). "Lichens of the Coniston Copper Mines". The Lichenologist. 17 (3): 221–237. doi:10.1017/S0024282985000299.
• Elix, JA; Gaul, KL; James, PW (1985). "α-Acetylhypoconstictic Acid, a New Depsidone from the Lichen Menegazzia dispora". Australian Journal of Chemistry. 38 (11): 1735. doi:10.1071/CH9851735.
• Elix, JA; Jenie, UA; Arvidsson, L.; Jorgensen, PM; James, PW (1986). "New Depsidones from the Lichen Genus Erioderma". Australian Journal of Chemistry. 39 (4): 719. doi:10.1071/CH9860719.
• James, P. W.; White, F. Joy (1987). "Studies on the Genus Nephroma I. The European and Macaronesian Species". The Lichenologist. 19 (3): 215–268. doi:10.1017/S0024282987000239.
• Elix, JA; Gaul, KL; James, PW; Purvis, OW (1987). "Three New Lichen Depsidones". Australian Journal of Chemistry. 40 (2): 417. doi:10.1071/CH9870417.
• White, F. Joy; James, P. W. (1988). "Studies on the Genus Nephroma II. The Southern Temperate Species". The Lichenologist. 20 (2): 103–166. doi:10.1017/S0024282988000167.
• Purvis, O. William; Tittley, I.; Chimonides, P. D. Jim; Bamber, Roger; Hayes, Peta A.; James, Peter W.; Rumsey, Fred J.; Read, Helen (2010). "Long-term biomonitoring of lichen and bryophyte biodiversity at Burnham Beeches SAC and global environmental change". Systematics and Biodiversity. 8 (2): 193–208. doi:10.1080/14772001003782088.
• Kantvilas, Gintaras; Elix, John A.; James, Peter W. (1992). "Siphulella, a New Lichen Genus from Southwest Tasmania". The Bryologist. 95 (2): 186–191. doi:10.2307/3243434. JSTOR 3243434.
• Jørgensen, Per M.; James, Peter W.; Jarvis, Charles E. (1994). "Linnaean lichen names and their typification". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 115 (4): 261–405. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1994.tb01784.x. (over 75 citations)
• Orange, Alan; James, P. W.; White, F. J. (2001). Microchemical Methods for the Identification of Lichens. ISBN 9780954041809. (over 1790 citations)
• Wolseley, Patricia A.; James, Peter W.; Theobald, Mark R.; Sutton, Mark A. (2006). "Detecting changes in epiphytic lichen communities at sites affected by atmospheric ammonia from agricultural sources". The Lichenologist. 38 (2): 161–176. doi:10.1017/S0024282905005487. (over 125 citations)
• Davies, L.; Bates, J.W.; Bell, J.N.B.; James, P.W.; Purvis, O.W. (2007). "Diversity and sensitivity of epiphytes to oxides of nitrogen in London". Environmental Pollution. 146 (2): 299–310. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2006.03.023. PMID 16777294.
• Larsen, R.S.; Bell, J.N.B.; James, P.W.; Chimonides, P.J.; Rumsey, F.J.; Tremper, A.; Purvis, O.W. (2007). "Lichen and bryophyte distribution on oak in London in relation to air pollution and bark acidity". Environmental Pollution. 146 (2): 332–340. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2006.03.033. PMID 16777299. (over 160 citations)

See also

• Category:Taxa named by Peter Wilfred James

References

External links

• Data related to Peter Wilfred James at Wikispecies