Improving Wildlife Surveys With Advanced Genetic And Statistical Tools – Dr Martin Schultz
Original Article Reference
This SciPod is a summary of the paper ‘Inference of genetic marker concentrations from field surveys to detect environmental DNA using Bayesian updating’, from PLOS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190603
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About this episode
Advancements in genetic technologies have provided new wildlife survey tools that are more efficient, less expensive, and allow scientists to detect species that are otherwise difficult to observe. Detection of environmental DNA (eDNA) shed into water or soil by wildlife, is one such tool. Through a multi-year study of Asian carp eDNA in the Chicago Area Waterway System, Dr Martin Schultz of the United States Army Corps of Engineers has been developing new methods that combine genetic techniques with powerful statistical models to estimate the Asian carp eDNA concentrations in waterways.
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