Project:

Quantifying Diptera Biodiversity In Farmingdale State University Teaching Gardens Using Malaise Traps and C01 DNA Barcoding

Students:

Gregory Seifert, Giuliana Urrego, Isabella Schembri

School:

Long Beach High School, Nassau

Mentors:

Kristen Conklin

Abstract:

Diptera exerts a major role in regulating biodiversity. Insects facilitate an impairment of the ecosystem. Diptera are responsible for different roles in the ecosystem such as, supporting plant reproduction, biodiversity of plants, decomposition of organic matter, food web support, and biological control by parasiting herbivorous insects. Understanding insect biodiversity in human-managed landscapes, such as Farmingdale State University Teaching Gardens, provides insight into how urban and semi-urban environments support insect communities (Kalita & Das, 2023). Biodiversity is linked to being important to flora and fauna but especially humans. A malaise trap is used to capture a mass amount of insects in forest habitats over a long period of time. The malaise traps' highly effective tent shape allows insects to go into the trap, and consume the killing agent. The malaise traps are versatile passive net-traps capable of catching a large spectrum of insect taxa (Uhler, et al., 2022). In

Team samples:

See all samples for project