Data relating to the development of a quantitative PCR assay for detecting Northwest salamander (Ambystoma gracile) in environmental DNA samples

The data support a study that describes the development and validation of a primer and probe based quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay for use with environmental DNA to detect Northwest salamander (Ambystoma gracile), a species endemic to the temperate Pacific coastal region of North America. The metadata includes qPCR quantification cycle (Cq) values from testing the A. gracile assay on DNA extracted from tissue samples derived from several A. gracile and closely related species and Cq values from testing the assay on environmental DNA (eDNA ) samples collected from two lakes, one containing A. gracile and one without the species.