group members: natalie, yina, gregory

  1. What is the final version of the question you are interested in asking? Our final question is: How do New York City fly larvae vary as borough location varies?
  2. List some keywords to use when searching for related scientific literature. Keywords: fly, larvae, manhattan, brooklyn, queens, bronx, staten island, indigenous, population/s, habitat, species
  3. Where will your data come from? Do you need to collect new data? The data we require for this study will be derived from previous BioBlitz events, since they took place in different boroughs.
  4. What will you be measuring or comparing? What are the dependent and independent variables? We will be collecting mostly qualitative data, and comparing the different species we observe from different boroughs. The fly species will depend on the borough we are studying, so the fly species is the dependent variable. The borough we are looking into will be the dependent variable.
  5. Please make a list of your methods. Our Methods: gather all BioBlitz data from previous years on fly populations, sort it by borough, then compare the populations / examine any overlaps, and to enrich the research we can look into habitat components that may explain the variations (such as availability of food)
  6. Why is this question interesting to you? Why should others care about this topic? This question is interesting because people don’t think of NYC as a home to diverse animal populations (other than rats, I suppose). Hopefully this research will sway opinions, and help others to appreciate the biodiversity that NYC has to offer. People should also care because small insects like flies are essential in food chains.