September General Meeting: Christopher E. Smith

A New Tool for Early Detection of Endangered Turtles

As turtle populations decline worldwide, there is an increased need for rapid and
reliable monitoring of species to meet the need of increased regulatory burdens. The use of
environmental DNA (eDNA) as a monitoring tool for rare species is becoming increasingly
common, but there is a still a need to optimize methods in the laboratory and the field at a per
assay level. Here, we evaluated the effectiveness of environmental DNA (eDNA) for detecting
Blanding’s turtles and wood turtles across Minnesota.
In addition, we will also discuss recent and notable updates from the Minnesota
Amphibian and Reptile Survey (MARS; www.mnherps.com) and explore how to MHS members
can participate in this community science effort.