Project:

Bioblitz of Ants in a Nature Study Area at Friends Academy in Locust Valley, NY

Students:

Marina Krichmar, Caz Costagliola

School:

Friends Academy, Nassau

Mentors:

Jennifer Newitt

Abstract:

About three years ago, Friends Academy converted a part of the forest near its nature trails into a forest school. However, the school has yet to see if this transformation could have affected what ant species are present in the area. The reason we decided on ants is because they are accessible and definitely live in this environment, and we as a group have a great interest in ants. We are doing a bio blitz to catalog the ant species in Friend’s Academy’s forest school. We would like to see if the recent change in the environment and the increase in human activity may have a novel effect on the biodiversity of ants in this area. Twenty specimens will be collected in the forest school using pitfall traps. Then, these ant specimens will be preserved and labeled in preparation for DNA extraction and analysis. We hope to get a reading of exactly what kind of species will be present in this transformed environment.

Poster:

Team samples: