This post features three manuscripts which look at reducing human–wildlife conflicts and managing species. First, Toshifumi Minamoto discusses his paper ‘ A basin-scale application of environmental DNA assessment for rare endemic species and closely related exotic species in rivers: a case study of giant salamanders in Japan ‘ by Sou Fukumoto, Atushi Ushimaru and Toshifumi Minamoto. The identification of DNA fragments sampled from water samples (environmental DNA: eDNA) has become a popular technique for rapidly determining the distribution of underwater macro-organisms. In this study we presented basin-scale eDNA surveys for the Japanese giant salamander ( Andrias japonicas ), which is endemic to Japan, and the Chinese giant salamander ( A. davidianus ), an exotic species, in Katura River in Japan. Four seasonal surveys at 37 sites were conducted, and the DNA of endemic and exotic species was detected at 25 and 9 sites, respectively. The overall eDNA detection sites corres...
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