Biodiversity Hotspots

Biodiversity hotspots are regions with unusual concentration of species and as significant reservoirs of biodiversity that are under threat from humans. These areas are rich in endemic species, meaning species that are not found anywhere else in the world, and they are considered critical in the global conservation of biodiversity.  These areas are marked by serious threat to its biodiversity by humans. The concept was given in 1988 by Norman Myers.

Qualification for Biodiversity Hotspot

To qualify as a hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria:

• Endemism: it must contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants (> 0.5 percent of the world’s total) as endemics, and
• Loss of Habitat: it has to have lost at least 70 percent of its original habitat.

There are currently 36 recognized biodiversity hotspots which collectively support 60% of world’s plant and animal species with a high share of endemics and cover around 2.5% of Earth’s land surface.
Many of the biodiversity hotspots exceed the above mentioned two criteria. For example, both the Sundaland Hotspot in Southeast Asia and the Tropical Andes Hotspot in South America have about 15,000 endemic plant species. The loss of vegetation in some hotspots has reached a startling 95 percent.

36 Biodiversity Hotspots

1. California Floristic Province – Encompasses much of California and parts of Oregon, Nevada, and Baja California.
2. Cape Floristic Region – Located at the southern tip of Africa, primarily in South Africa.
3. Caribbean Islands – This hotspot includes all the islands in the Caribbean Sea.
4. Cerrado – A vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil.
5. Chilean Winter Rainfall-Valdivian Forests – Located in central and southern Chile and parts of Argentina.
6. Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa – Stretches along the eastern coast of Africa, from Somalia to Mozambique.
7. East Melanesian Islands – Includes the islands in the southeastern part of the Melanesian region, near Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
8. Eastern Afromontane – Ranges from Saudi Arabia in the north to Zimbabwe in the south, along the eastern edge of Africa.
9. Forests of East Australia – Includes the coastal region of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia.
10. Guinean Forests of West Africa – Encompasses the lowland forests of West Africa.
11. Himalaya – Covers the Himalayan mountain range and surrounding areas.
12. Horn of Africa – Includes parts of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia.
13. Indo-Burma – Covers parts of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
14. Irano-Anatolian – Encompasses parts of Iran and Turkey.
15. Japan – Includes the islands of Japan.
16. Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands – Encompasses Madagascar and other nearby islands.
17. Madrean Pine-Oak Woodlands – Located in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
18. Mesoamerica – Extends from central Mexico to Panama.
19. Mountains of Central Asia – Covers parts of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan.
20. Mountains of Southwest China – Includes mountain ranges in southwestern China.
21. New Caledonia – Comprises the islands of New Caledonia in the Pacific.
22. New Zealand – Encompasses the islands of New Zealand.
23. Philippines – Includes the Philippine archipelago.
24. Polynesia-Micronesia – Covers the islands in the Polynesia and Micronesia regions of the Pacific.
25. Succulent Karoo – Located in parts of South Africa and Namibia.
26. Sundaland – Encompasses the Malay Peninsula and the islands of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Bali.
27. Tropical Andes – Stretches along the Andes mountains in South America.
28. Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena – Located on the Pacific coast of Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru.
29. Wallacea – Includes the Indonesian islands between Asian and Australian continental shelves.
30. Western Ghats and Sri Lanka – Covers the Western Ghats in India and the country of Sri Lanka.
31. Atlantic Forest – Spans along the Atlantic coast of Brazil, into parts of Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay.
32. Caucasus – Encompasses the Caucasus region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
33. Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany – Located in southern Africa, including parts of South Africa, Mozambique, and Swaziland.
34. Southwest Australia – Covers the southwestern corner of Australia.
35. Brazil’s Cerrado – A vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, distinct from the Amazon Basin.
36. Eastern Himalayas – Encompasses parts of Nepal, Bhutan, and the Indian states of West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam.

What Biodiversity Hotspots don’t do?

The Biodiversity Hotspots are often criticized on the following arguments

• Do not adequately represent other forms of species richness (e.g. total species richness or threatened species richness).
• Do not adequately represent taxa other than vascular plants (e.g. vertebrates, or fungi).
• Do not protect smaller scale richness hotspots.
• Do not make allowances for changing land use patterns. Hotspots represent regions that have experienced considerable habitat loss, but this does not mean they are experiencing ongoing habitat loss. On the other hand, regions that are relatively intact (e.g. the Amazon Basin) have experienced relatively little land loss, but are currently losing habitat at tremendous rates.
• Do not protect ecosystem services
• Do not consider phylogenetic diversity.

Biodiversity Hotspots in India

India shares its territories into three biodiversity hotspots viz. Himalaya, Western Ghats and Indo-Burma. Out of them, Himalaya and Western Ghats are mostly located within India’s territory. In the Indo-Burma Biodiversity hotspot, India shares only a small part in north East India.

The Indo-Burma Biodiversity hotspot includes parts of northeastern India, Bangladesh and Malaysia.