Project:

Prevalence of Invasive Plants Growing at the Base of Street Trees

Students:

Aminata Diallo, Ava Rubinstein, Dani Jefferson

School:

The Dalton School, Manhattan

Mentors:

Andy Chen

Abstract:

We aim to explore the presence of invasive plant species in the Upper East Side of New York City. We will conduct surveys along city streets, specifically looking for small plants growing under street trees. We hypothesize that we will discover a significant number of invasive species during our investigation. This is because the number of invasive species in New York is so substantial that there are new ones discovered each year. We believe it will be particularly valuable to concentrate on smaller plants, considering that there are over 50 plant species designated as invasive to New York's biodiversity. Additionally, the perimeter we chose for data collection is landscaped regularly, making it unlikely for large plant species to establish and outcompete potential invasive species.

Poster:

Team samples: