Carnegie Museum of Natural History scientists study a lost world of biodiversity

Carnegie, Jan/Feb 2003

CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

The Caribbean island of Hispaniola southeast of Cuba contains the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and to some scientists represents a lost world of biodiversity.

Even though the natural environment of Hispaniola has been seriously affected by development and pollution, Carnegie scientists estimate that 80 percent of the native species in the mountainous regions, including many new genera, are undescribed or inadequately documented in scientific literature.

To study these life forms, and to prepare for future conservation, the National Science Foundation is funding a three-year project to sample, document, and collect specimens of invertebrates (especially insects) and plants from the unstudied, unique regions. Carnegie Museum of Natural History, which has a strong collection of Caribbean insects in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology, is a lead institution in this effort.

A $553,000 research grant that targets invertebrates and plants has been awarded to scientists at Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH), Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution. CMNH will send a team (including Associate Curators John Rawlins and Chen Young, and Collection Manager Robert Davidson) on nine expeditions to montane regions of the island over the next three years. They will collaborate not only with scientists from Harvard and the Smithsonian, but also with colleagues and students from the State University of Haiti, the Jardin Botanico and Museo Nacional de Historia Natural in Dominican Republic, and regional Caribbean conservancies and ecological organizations. Some 170 specialists on Caribbean organisms have agreed to conduct systematic research and provide authoritative identifications for the survey.

The goals include the discovery and description of new genera and species, and detailed studies of the historical and biogeographical origins for the biota that appear to have roots in North America-not in tropical America as might be supposed from their current location. The potential evolutionary relationships with similar organisms found elsewhere have prompted scientists to refer to Hispaniola as a "lost world" of biodiversity.

There also has been discussion of carrying on the same biotic inventory effort in the montane regions in Cuba, as well as developing a traveling exhibit based on Caribbean activities by CMNH staff-which includes other departments beyond Invertebrate Zoology.