Project:

Biodiversity of Fungal DNA in Soil of Tree Species

Students:

Leslie Calle, Amia McDonald

Institution:

High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology, Brooklyn

Mentors:

Julie Nadel

Abstract:

This project consists of visually identifying and sampling the soil of three tree species; Red Maple, Pin Oak, and Siberian Elm on the west side of the perimeter of Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY, in order to identify unknown fungi on the species. We are going to be extracting 1 gram of the soil surrounding the root of the three tree species as our sample. We then are going to be using DNA barcoding in order to determine if the soil of any of the tree species contain non-harmful fungi. In case of low levels of fungal DNA in the soil samples, we are also collecting samples of visible species fungi from the same area where the tree species are located. The main goal is to investigate if they share a common fungi that is beneficial to the species and/or the world around them.

Poster:

Team samples: