Environmental DNA analysis confirms extant populations of the cryptic Irwin’s turtle within its historical range
Villacorta Rath, Cecilia, Espinoza, Thomas, Cockayne, Bernie, Schaffer, Jason, and Burrows, Damien (2022) Environmental DNA analysis confirms extant populations of the cryptic Irwin’s turtle within its historical range. BMC Ecology and Evolution, 22. 57.
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Abstract
Background Approximately 50% of freshwater turtles worldwide are currently threatened by habitat loss, rural development and altered stream flows. Paradoxically, reptiles are understudied organisms, with many species lacking basic geographic distribution and abundance data. The iconic Irwin’s turtle, Elseya irwini, belongs to a unique group of Australian endemic freshwater turtles capable of cloacal respiration. Water resource development, increased presence of saltwater crocodiles and its cryptic behaviour, have made sampling for Irwin’s turtle in parts of its range problematic, resulting in no confirmed detections across much of its known range for > 25 years. Here, we used environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis for E. irwini detection along its historical and contemporary distribution in the Burdekin, Bowen and Broken River catchments and tributaries. Five replicate water samples were collected at 37 sites across those three river catchments. Environmental DNA was extracted using a glycogen-aided precipitation method and screened for the presence of E. irwini through an eDNA assay targeting a 127 base pair-long fragment of the NADH dehydrogenase 4 (ND4) mitochondrial gene.
Results Elseya irwini eDNA was detected at sites within its historic distribution in the lower Burdekin River, where the species had not been formally recorded for > 25 years, indicating the species still inhabits the lower Burdekin area. We also found higher levels of E. iriwni eDNA within its contemporary distribution in the Bowen and Broken Rivers, matching the prevailing scientific view that these areas host larger populations of E. irwini.
Conclusions This study constitutes the first scientific evidence of E. irwini presence in the lower Burdekin since the original type specimens were collected as part of its formal description, shortly after the construction of the Burdekin Falls Dam. From the higher percentage of positive detections in the upper reaches of the Broken River (Urannah Creek), we conclude that this area constitutes the core habitat area for the species. Our field protocol comprises a user-friendly, time-effective sampling method. Finally, due to safety risks associated with traditional turtle sampling methods in the Burdekin River (e.g., estuarine crocodiles) we propose eDNA sampling as the most pragmatic detection method available for E. irwini.
| Item ID: | 73693 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 2730-7182 |
| Keywords: | Catchment-wide survey; Dam development; Elseya irwini; eDNA Monitoring; User-friendly field methods |
| Copyright Information: | © The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. |
| Funders: | National Environment Sciences Programme (NESP) Northern Australian Hub, Queensland Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water (DRDMW) |
| Projects and Grants: | NESP Project 4.3: Northern Australia eDNA program - revolutionising aquatic monitoring and field surveys in tropical waters, DRDMW Environmental Flows Assessment Program - Queensland Department of Regional Development |
| Date Deposited: | 30 May 2022 02:35 |
| FoR Codes: | 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310304 Freshwater ecology @ 30% 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3105 Genetics > 310599 Genetics not elsewhere classified @ 30% 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410402 Environmental assessment and monitoring @ 40% |
| SEO Codes: | 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1803 Fresh, ground and surface water systems and management > 180301 Assessment and management of freshwater ecosystems @ 100% |
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