Project:

Lichens in a Manmade White Pine Preserve with an Unfortunate Changing Biodiversity

Students:

Caitlin Ackerly, Emily Ramjit, Tarkan Kurtoglu, Meghan Ippolito

School:

Newfield/Centereach High Schools, Suffolk

Mentors:

James Nelson

Abstract:

Lichens are a composite organism. They consist of fungus and alga, the two working in a symbiotic relationship. Lichen identification and species richness index are often used as biomonitors of changes in climate and biodiversity of forests. A lichen community, groups of lichen species within a designated area, is sensitive to landscape structures and responds to environmental changes such as rainfall and temperature. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service samples lichens every year to observe and record how a forest's lichen population changes over time. In the last few years, Prosser Pines Nature Preserve in Middle Island, NY has been undergoing ecological changes. An invasive plant, known as Frangula alnus (alder buckthorn), has been appearing throughout Prosser Pines Preserve and altering its biodiversity, yet a section of the preserve has remained unaffected from the invasive species. The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) lichen indicator is used to monitor forest hea

Poster:

Team samples: