Research Participation in a Survey of the Natural Resources of the Venezuelan Guayana Region

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This Science in Developing Countries Program award will provide travel support to seven New York Botanical Garden scientists under the direction of Dr. Brian Boom, to participate in a survey of the natural resources of the Venezuelan Guayana region. Initiated in 1985 by the Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana (CVG), this ten-year survey is being done through the Universidad Nacional Experimental de los Llanos Occidentales "Ezequiel Zamora" (UNELLEZ) in Venezuela. The New York Botanical Garden scientists will be cooperating with them as botanical consultants and collectors. The survey trips, most of them helicopter-supported, offer unparalleled opportunities to collect plant specimens in remote, and largely unexplored forest regions of the Guayana. After a year and a schedule of ten trips, 1,200 - 15,400 specimens should be collected. Due to the multi-disciplinary nature of the survey teams, these specimens will be well-correlated with satellite remote-sensing and ground-truth ecological data. The collections will not only add much to our knowledge of Guayana phytogeography, but will also contribute to our understanding of regional biodiversity.