Project:

Soil Dwelling Fungal Biodiversity Across Suburban Neighborhoods and Woodlands

Students:

Ella Kopacz, Tyler Kamback, Jason Sun, Carew Davis

School:

Oyster Bay High School, Nassau

Mentors:

Steve Acquaro

Abstract:

It is important for us to find the difference between fungi composition in pristine and urban environments in our community to identify and document how urbanization impacts fungal diversity. While there is much that we know about fungal biodiversity's role in our ecosystem, little is known about how fungal biodiversity is affected by urbanization and how it specifically alters fungal diversity. Collecting these samples will help us understand how impermeable surfaces can affect the fungi diversity of our environment. Since there is no current information regarding this topic, species will be cataloged using metabarcoding techniques to establish a database of known terrestrial fungal groups so a comparison can be made between urbanized and locally protected areas.

Poster:

Team samples: