Biological Society of Washington - Department of Botany ...

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Figure 2. A comparison of the species lists of the political areas of the Guiana Shield Region.
National Museum of Natural History that began in
1983 (federally funded since 1987). The goal of the
BDG is to ‘‘study, document and preserve the
biological diversity of the Guiana Shield.’’ Most of
the program’s field work has taken place in Guyana,
but data analyses cover the majority of the Shield. In
Guyana, the BDG operates under the auspices of the
University of Guyana (UG). The BDG program is
designed to provide specimens and data to address
questions about many groups of organisms from
locations across the Shield. Information from BDG
collections and from other herbarium collections is
used to produce checklists, vegetation maps, floristic
and faunistic studies, revisions, and monographs. The
data generated from these studies are used to ask
questions about the make up of Guiana Shield
biological diversity, such as species turnover rates,
surrogate taxa, and areas of high diversity. Finally, the
BDG is exploring practical applications of the data
that have been collected through regular collaborations
with conservation and government agencies.
In addition to collecting and research, the BDG
Program trains students and scientists in both the
U.S.A. and Guyana, assists in their research, and has
established and helped to maintain collections. Over
the years several events have been hosted in Guyana,
including two Amerindian training courses, two bird
preparation courses, two plant identification courses, a
variety of lectures at the University and public venues,
and a public scientific symposium on the biological
diversity of Guyana. We also offer training opportunities;
nearly every year since 1987 the Program has
hosted at least one Guyanese student or UG staff
member at the Smithsonian. Many have participated in
the Natural History Museum’s Research Training
Program or the SI/MAB training courses. BDG
worked with the University of Guyana to raise funds
from the Royal Bank of Canada to construct a new
building, the ‘‘Centre for the Study of Biological
Diversity,’’ located on the campus of UG. More
recently, we worked with UG to raise funds from
USAID to build an extension on the original building.