Erica on 'daddy' of all turtle projects
Published on 22 October, 2008
CQUniversity Biology Honours student Erica Todd has had a busy year pursuing her passion: turtle research and conservation...
Erica spent several vacations during her undergraduate years as a volunteer in marine turtle research but this year turned her attention to the threatened freshwater turtle Elseya albagula, endemic to the Burnett, Mary and Fitzroy Rivers.
Erica Todd keeps track of her project
Her Honours project investigated multiple paternity within clutches of this species using several DNA fingerprinting techniques.
Supervisor Dr Bob Newby said the project was a great example of cross-institutional co-operation. The project was supported financially by a research grant from the Queensland Turtle Research group within the Environmental Protection Agency; the molecular analysis was done by Erica at the Molecular Ecology and Evolution Laboratory at James Cook University, while some of the DNA fragments were analysed by the Australian Genome Research Facility of Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.
Understanding paternity patterns is important for the management of this threatened species as these influence population demography and genetic diversity.
Although multiple paternity could not be evaluated in the Burnett population because of very low genetic variability, the more diverse Fitzroy River populations are good candidates for future study. Using computer modelling, Erica was able to estimate the probability of detecting multiple paternity in each river system.
The hatchlings genetic sampled and ready for release
Erica hopes to continue her turtle research with postgraduate studies. She said although our scientific knowledge of Australian freshwater turtles is growing, there is still much to learn with many exciting avenues for research. Existing and planned water infrastructure developments threaten the existence of our freshwater turtles, and to effectively conserve them we must first understand them.