Project:

Insect Biodiversity on Long Island’s North and South Shore

Students:

Kathleen Estephany, Sophie Ferguson

School:

William Floyd High School, Suffolk

Mentors:

Victoria D'Ambrosia

Abstract:

Biodiversity is essential to ecosystem stability. The National Wildlife Federation defines biodiversity as “the variety of of life on earth.” In the global ecosystem, biodiversity is important because every species has a role in the lives of other species and in various natural processes. Class Insecta is the largest and most diverse class of animals on the planet(Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County). With such great species diversity, insects have countless roles in the ecosystem. They serve as food sources to other species, act as pollinators, and decompose nearly everything. In light of the importance of both biodiversity and insects in our ecosystem, this study will be done to research insect biodiversity on the shores of Long Island. The expected results are that there will be a difference in insect biodiversity between the different shores due to environmental differences.

Poster:

Team samples: