Project:

Ants' Affect on the Soil of Long Island

Students:

Cailin Foster, Julia Martorana

School:

Seaford High School, Nassau

Mentors:

Mary Simons

Abstract:

Our goal is to determine what species of ants are present in public parks on the south shore of Nassau County as well as their impact on the soil composition. This is relavent to human health because some species of ants can affect crops and gardens on Long Island. A negative effect of the ant activity is that it can change the composition of the soil. Some studies show that the chemical makeup of a sample of soil after there had been ant activity was almost completely contrary to the makeup of a sample of soil without ant activity from the same area. The changes included an increase in free phosphorus and potassium and total carbon and nitrogen. A positive effect would be that a large population of ants can keep species that are harmful to crops such as mealy bugs, aphids, and white flies under control.

Poster:

Team samples: