Project:

Survey of algae diversity in man-made tide-pools on the Harlem River in Randall's Island

Students:

Sunny Huang, Alex Critelli, Odin Fawer

Institution:

Bronx Community College, The Bronx

Mentors:

Raffaella Diotti

Abstract:

Biodiversity has been adversely affected by global warming and the rapid urbanization of coastal areas. One prime example would be the biodiversity at the shore of Randall’s Island, located at the crosspoint between The Bronx, Queens, and Manhattan in NYC. Companies like ECOncreteTM have been engineering cement using more eco-friendly materials to create structures better suited to help support healthy coastal ecosystems. In our study we explore the algal biodiversity in eco-friendly tide-pools found along the Harlem River in Randall’s Island. We will collect specimens from each pool three times during the year and compare the different species found in each pool using DNA barcoding. DNA Subway and BLAST will be utilized to analyze our data. We surmise we will see a difference between algae population in the pools depending on their vertical and horizontal location and seasonal collection times.

Poster:

Team samples: