Here 2 Stay! Sessile Organisms in the Hudson River Estuary

Ships, piers, lines and shorelines are all fixtures of any harbor. These are also habitats for sessile organisms to settle. We wondered how does the surrounding environment of the Hudson River Estuary impact the quality and quantity of sessile organisms? We can use settlement tiles to simulate and examine settlement sites. Our hypothesis is that if there are high levels of pollution and low levels of DO (Dissolved Oxygen) in the water, then there will be less biodiversity and less colonization of the tiles because of an inability of the organisms to thrive.