Research

INTRODUCTION

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        We recently took part in the Environmental Science Summer Research Experience at Roland Park Country School in Baltimore, Maryland. We completed a biota survey of site 3 (N 39.35797; W 076.63836) and site 4 (N 39.35733; W 076.63840) of the woodlands situated in the west-southwest edge of the campus. Survey results showed significantly lower protozoa levels in site 4 than site 3. We found this abnormal because site 4 is a wetland while site 3 is a hillside. This caused us to take a closer look at other environmental differences which may explain this abnormality. We observed an increased amount of sun exposure to the soil of site 4. Being that UV radiation is a main component of sunlight, we began studying the affects of UV radiation on protozoa levels at different depths of soil. We expected the protozoa levels to be lower on the first 10 cm of the soil as more UV penetrated the soil and for the protozoa levels to be higher in the 10 to 20 cm region as the protozoa vertically migrated deeper avoiding the rays.