Project:

Barcoding and Biodiversity in the Peconic River

Students:

Jameson Ackley, William Steinacher, Zachery Coach Governale

School:

Eastport South Manor Junior-Senior High School, Suffolk

Mentors:

Robert Bolen

Abstract:

Barcoding with DNA can be used to identify organisms and tell us which species are alike and are closely related. DNA barcoding is used for biodiversity studies to help gain better understanding of biodiversity within an ecosystem. Biodiversity is important for an ecosystem because it contributes to the stability of an ecosystem. If there is a drop in biodiversity, the ecosystem will start to fail as it cannot remain stable with environmental changes. Our plan is to document biodiversity in the river by comparing this year's results to prior years to see if biodiversity has changed in this area. Invasive species throw the food chain off balance causing native species to possibly go extinct. We collected dragonfly nymphs, a spider, and an unknown water bug. Our goal is to determine which species are native, which are non-native, and which, if any, pose a threat to the ecosystem stability.

Poster:

Team samples: