So? Who cares that it has fewer species than tropical ecosystems? An ecosystem has just as many species as it can support. Compared to other temperate freshwater systems, the Mississippi Basin is the most diverse in the world. Its species are unique. When glaciers covered the northern part of the continent, it was the mighty Mississippi that served as a refugium and major center of fish evolution. Indeed, the Mississippi is the "mother" of North American fish diversity.
Chris Scharpf
Baltimore
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