ABSTRACT
The complexity of the habitat provides ecological breadth for mussels large and small, fast and slow, shallow and deep, with descriptive names like fanshell, sheepnose, spectacle case, washboard, clubshell, rough pigtoe, pink mucket, black sandshell, pistolgrip, and maple leaf. The mission of the Western Kentucky University, Green River Preserve (GRP) is to foster knowledge and protection of this highly diverse region and natural heritage through research, education, and conservation. The GRP is located along the Green River on the Dripping Springs Escarpment. A sampling includes biology: zoology, ecology, wildlife, aquatic field biology, entomology, plant taxonomy, geology: structural geology, environmental geology folk studies vernacular architecture, field anthropology and other classes and projects including some by visiting universities. The habitats of the GRP include bottomlands, uplands, barrens, caves, limestone glades, and, of course, the river itself.
