Project:

Human influence on Species at Sunken Meadow Park

Students:

Emily (Fae) Flannigan, Alex Strievski

School:

Northport High School,

Mentors:

James Kubik

Abstract:

Sunken Meadow State park is heavily visited by humans in some areas depending on the season. Our goal would be to discover what species remain in those areas and discover if they differ from species found in less densely populated beach areas. We plan to study the plant species located at the state park, and see how they are affected by human interactions. We aim to collect plants living by the water, particularly by the salt marsh. The plants found in the salt marsh sustain the surrounding community, therefore a possible decline in these plants would negatively affect other populations in the park. Not only would the presence of humans in this area drive away certain species, but what humans bring to the park and leave behind could attract species possibly not commonly found in similar areas.

Poster:

Team samples: