Restricted Research - Award List, Note/Discussion Page
Fiscal Year: 2023
371 Sam Houston State University (142259)
Principal Investigator: Lutterschmidt, William I.
Total Amount of Contract, Award, or Gift (Annual before 2011): $ 155,473
Exceeds $250,000 (Is it flagged?): No
Start and End Dates: 1/13/23 - 8/31/25
Restricted Research: YES
Academic Discipline: Biology
Department, Center, School, or Institute: Department of Biology
Title of Contract, Award, or Gift: Efficacy of Using Environmental DNA (eDNA) to Detect Alligator Snapping Turtles
Name of Granting or Contracting Agency/Entity:
TX Comptroller of Public Accounts-Unclaimed Property
CFDA: n/a
Program Title: n/a
Note:
SAMs 1.1.1: Problem: The USFWS has released a Species Status Assessment (SSA) for alligator snapping turtles (Macrochelys temminckii) and for potential federal listing under the Endangered Species Act. Ultimately, a SSA is concerned with the viability of a species, which is dependent on a species’ resiliency, redundancy, and representation. Current information on the status, distribution, and abundance of alligator snapping turtles is lacking, and development of a comprehensive conservation and management plan at either the state or federal level is not possible. Further, development of these management actions is dependent on reliable methodologies that can quantify the parameters of interest. Objective: To provide USFWS with concise, accurate, scientific data from Texas, which is necessary to determine if the alligator snapping turtle warrants listing. We propose research in the state of Texas that will meet the following objectives: (1) Conduct repeated site surveys to evaluate the efficacy of using eDNA approaches to determine the presence of alligator snapping turtles and (2) develop protocols that can be utilized by diverse stakeholders in Texas (Task 1) and contribute results to the Texas Natural Diversity Database to serve as a baseline for future monitoring efforts (Task 2).
Discussion: No discussion notes