Scientists have long known the streams, rivers and lakes of the Southeast to be teeming with aquatic biodiversity.
Now, thanks in part to a local organization, freshwater biologists have a set of detailed maps showing where that diversity is strongest and where it is most endangered.
Biologists from the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute in Chattanooga and the University of Georgia’s River Basin Center worked on the project with grant funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
The findings were recently published in an 86-page report expected to guide conservationists’ choices about which places and species to prioritize in their ongoing efforts to protect the region’s rich watersheds. It could also help with the acquisition of future grants and funding.
But Anna George, the Tennessee Aquarium’s vice president for conservation science and education, hopes the visual illustration of the area’s biodiversity resonates with the public, too.