This is an agency history. It does not describe actual records. The Smithsonian Institution Archives uses these histories as brief accounts of the origin, development, and functions of an office or administrative unit to set that unit in its historical context. To find information on record holdings, please double-click the highlighted field "Creator/Author", which will open on a brief view of relevant records.
Smithsonian Year
Don Wilson, Smithsonian Journeys Experts, https://www.smithsonianjourneys.org/experts/don-wilson/, accessed November 28, 2022
The Neotropical Biodiversity Program was established in the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in 1990 in response to growing concerns about the accelerating destruction of forests and other habitats. It was an attempt to centralize NMNH research on tropical forests, coastal marine ecosystems, temperate environments, and other places where human encroachment threatens natural areas. Don E. Wilson was appointed Director. The name was changed to Biodiversity Program in 1992. In or around 2000, the Biodiversity Program as a centralized entity for research was abolished.
Programs and projects under the Biodiversity umbrella have included Biological Diversity of the Guianas (BDG); Biological Diversity of Tropical Latin America (BIOLAT); Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP); Biodiversity Surveys and Inventories Program; Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystems Program at Carries Bow Cay, Belize; Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force; Latin American Plant Program; Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program; and the Neotropical Lowlands Research Program.
For a history of the larger creating unit, refer to "Forms part of" above.
Repository Loc.:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520
