The Davis Herpetology Lab has been awarded funding from the Share With Wildlife program from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to conduct surveys for two species of imperiled snakes using environmental DNA (eDNA). These two focal species of snakes are the Mexican Gartersnake (Thamnophis eques) and the Plain-bellied Watersnake (Nerodia erythrogaster). eDNA is a novel survey methodology that has shown promise in the detection of wildlife, particularly cryptic aquatic or semi-aquatic species. We will conduct these surveys from 2025–2026 across southeastern (for N. erythrogaster) and southwestern New Mexico (for T. eques) and support undergraduate student involvement and graduate student thesis research. Data generated from this work will hopefully yield important distributional data on these imperiled species that can be used by land managers to inform decisions.

Grant Title: Using Environmental DNA (eDNA) to Survey for Imperiled Reptiles in New Mexico