LE3 .A278 2013

2013

Stewart, Don

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Biology

Biology

Non-invasive fecal sampling is emerging as a feasible technique for tracking and determining the distribution of elusive species. Prior studies have generated a field protocol for collecting fecal samples from shrews using baited tubes. However, Nova Scotia’s seven species of shrews have similar diets and similarly sized feces, and so species identification based on fecal morphology has proven to be a challenge. Instead, amplification of a small section of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene and the use of restriction endonucleases was used to generate species-specific restriction fragment length polymorphisms to identify the white-bearded water shrew, Sorex albibarbis and the Maritime shrew, Sorex maritimensis. One hundred two schools were contacted, with six teachers volunteering their classes to collect samples in fall 2012. Other volunteers recruited by a poster campaign and direct contact with schools and research groups collected samples at five further locations. DNA extracted from ninety-nine fecal samples had concentrations ranging from 2.5-170 mg/mL and A260/A280 values between 0.986-8.000. Positive controls have been used to develop a working protocol for species identification, however no fecal samples have been tested due to difficulties amplifying fecal DNA.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:1034