Project:

Determination of Biodiversity of Spiders in NYC via DNA Barcoding of Cobwebs

Students:

Alfred Lim, Ellise Ferrer, Andres Revueltas, Alvi Rahman

School:

High School for Health Professions and Human Services, Manhattan

Mentors:

Rocheli Apilan

Abstract:

Biological diversity is a crucial factor that may determine whether certain organisms in a defined area will be able to survive. All organisms play their own unique role in their environment, this system helps keep ecosystems well-balanced and prevents the overpopulation or extinction of species. A heavy increase/decrease of any given specie in an area could cause the surrounding ecosystem to experience dramatic changes which may later on lead to a loss in biodiversity. Global environmental change can also have devastating effects on the environment of many species. This research will focus explicitly on how to preserve spider population and thus keeping the biodiversity in their environment in a healthy state. We will be extracting DNA from their webs and analyzing it through barcoding. As a result, we plan to find better ways keep spider biodiversity in the environment since they play an important role in their ecosystem

Poster:

Team samples: