Click here to download the final report (12/5/2016) on the Southeastern Aquatic Biodiversity Strategy, developed by the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute and the UGA River Basin Center for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). This document uses the historic distributions of fishes, mussels, and crayfishes to map the overall patterns of biodiversity in the Southeast and proposes a regional prioritization based on areas highest in species richness, endemism, and imperilment. This ranking represents one approach to identifying the areas of greatest need based on biological factors and is intended as a reference for assessing conservation opportunities in the region.
UPDATE 2: Elkins, et al, 2019 has been published in the open-access journal Global Ecology and Conservation. This analysis includes substantial revisions to the mussel maps based on a second round of review by our mussel team. The online supplements include a tabular breakdown of all 290 watersheds. in our study area
UPDATE: Dr. Duncan Elkins and Dr. Bernie Kuhajda gave a webinar for River Network in June 2018 that provides a brief overview of the process and results of the prioritization.
The version posted here does not include the threats and actions appendix. If you would like a copy of these recommendations after the final report has been approved by our advisory committee, please request one via the Contact Us page.