Stability of Recent Unionid (Mollusca: Bivalvia) Communities Over the Past 6000 Years

Abstract

Historically, the greatest freshwater bivalve species diversity in the world was in the Tennessee, Cumberland and Alabama River systems. The Tennessee River System had 94 and the Cumberland River System had 85 taxa reported (Starnes and Bogan, 1988). Ortmann (1918, 1924, 1925, 1926), Wilson and Clark (1914), Neel and Allen (1964), van der Schalie (1939, 1973) and van der Schalie and van der Schalie (1950) documented this diverse fauna. However, even in the early days of this century these authors noted the decline in the mussel populations and the loss of species from certain rivers (e.g. Ortmann, 1909a, 1918).