Project:

A Comparison Between Lichen Species Composition of Cranberry Bog, Riverhead from 1961 to 2022

Students:

Scarlett Dellacona, Rebecca Marzari, Ethan Palacio

School:

Lynbrook Senior High School, Nassau

Mentors:

Kathleen McAuley

Abstract:

Lichens are a composite organism composed of a fungus and a photosynthetic organism (Lutzoni & Miadlikowska, n.d.). There are over 18,000 species of lichen (S, n.d.), and are extremely sensitive to pollution (Lutzoni & Miadlikowska, n.d.). A complete overview of the lichen on Long Island was completed in 1961, however, this work has not been entirely updated since (Brodo, 1961). With suburbanization beginning in the 1950’s and the significant increases of pollution, temperature, and environmental changes, we believe there will be a change in the species composition on Long Island. We will be focusing on Cranberry Bog, Riverhead, where 23 unique lichen species were catalogued in 1961 (Brodo, 1961). We will compare the species composition of the bog and the factors that affect the lichen presence such as the climate or average temperature, all of which were studied in the 1961 analysis, to determine possible causes of species composition differences.

Poster:

Team samples: