Project:

Dwarfed Atlantic White Cedars of the Long Island Pine Barrens

Students:

Matthew Moran, Shea Ringel, Autumn Romer, Katja Vardoulias

School:

Massapequa High School, Nassau

Mentors:

Daniel Mezzafonte

Abstract:

The Atlantic white cedar, Chamaecyparis thyoides, is an evergreen tree in the cypress family. In the United States. The tree ranges from Mississippi to Southern Florida, Northern to Southern New England, and the Southeastern New York areas including the Long Island Pine Barrens. The Atlantic white cedar prefers to grow within swamps, marshes, and other more acidic and wet environments with sandy, peaty soil. Atlantic white cedars may grow 60 to 80 feet tall and 30 to 40 feet wide when fully matured. Evidence of dwarfed Atlantic white cedars has been observed in the Pine Barrens region of Long Island. It is the goal of this study to investigate the potential environmental and genetic causes for such growth impairment in Atlantic white cedar populations in Sears Bellows County Park and Cranberry Bog County Park.

Poster:

Team samples: