A comprehensive freshwater mussel database for the Duck River Drainage, Tennessee

We have developed a comprehensive database for freshwater mussels for the Duck River drainage in Tennessee, including its largest tributary, the Buffalo River.  This database is intended to serve as an expandable template that could be applied statewide.  The Duck River is one of the most biologically diverse rivers in the world, with historically over 70 mussel species, and it has been selected as a priority watershed by multiple management and conservation entities.  The database for this system compiles over 7,000 mussel records, spanning 200 years, from multiple Federal, State, academic, and private entities, representing 77 native species.  The database is spatially explicit and includes temporal and methodological data for each record, and notes of negative survey data were made when possible.  The database can facilitate the creation of distribution maps for each species and temporal maps of species richness to show watershed-wide trends.  This project addresses the present lack of a centralized mussel database in Tennessee for a critical system. It will be available to facilitate species status assessments, inform conservation planning, and serve as a model for similar databases for other Tennessee watersheds.