Project:

Biodiversity of Sandy Beach Invertebrates along Robert Moses Beaches

Students:

Samantha Soevyn, Emily Welch

School:

West Islip High School, Suffolk

Mentors:

Mary Kroll

Abstract:

Studying the diversity of sand dwelling organisms is important and DNA barcoding can be effectively used for marine biodiversity assessment, species management, and conservation (Trivedi, Aloufi, Ansari, & Ghosh, 2006). DNA barcoding is significant in helping determine the species of sand dwelling organisms since there is little information that is known on the spatial distribution of the biodiversity of copepods (Beaugrand, Reid, Ibanez, & Planque, 2000). Our aim is to determine the biodiversity of invertebrate sand dwellers located on the Robert Moses coastline. Collection of crabs and isopods will be avoided, as much is already known about these organisms. Collection of other invertebrate sand dwellers including beach hoppers (amphipods), beetles, bloodworms, and copepods will be the focus of this experiment. Beaugrand, Reid, Ibañez, and Planque (2000) say the Atlantic Ocean has a high amount of biodiversity among marine organisms; therefore, we hypothesize that the biodiversity of

Poster:

Team samples: