'Biodiversity hotspots’ regions with very high levels of species richness and high degree of endemism (that is, species confined to that region and not found anywhere else). Initially 25 biodiversity hotspots were identified but subsequently nine more have been added to the list, bringing the total number of biodiversity hotspots in the world to 36. These hotspots are also regions of accelerated habitat loss.Â
Biodiversity hotspots in India – Western Ghats, Indo-Burma and Himalaya
Although all the biodiversity hotspots put together cover less
than 2 per cent of the earth’s land area, the number of species they
collectively harbour is extremely high and strict protection of these hotspots
could reduce the ongoing mass extinctions by almost 30 per cent.
List of
Biodiversity Hotspots in the world
1. Tropical
Andes
2.
Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena
3. Madrean
Pine–Oak Woodlands
4. Cerrado
5. Chilean
Winter Rainfall and Valdivian Forests
6. Atlantic
Forest
7.
Mesoamerica
8.
Caribbean Islands
9.
California Floristic Province
10. Guinean
Forests of West Africa
11. Cape
Floristic Region
12.
Succulent Karoo
13.
Maputaland–Pondoland–Albany
14. Coastal
Forests of Eastern Africa
15. Eastern
Afromontane
16. Horn of
Africa
17.
Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands
18
Mediterranean Basin
19.
Caucasus
20.
Irano-Anatolian
21.
Mountains of Central Asia
22. Western
Ghats and Sri Lanka
23.
Himalaya
24.
Mountains of Southwest China
25.
Indo-Burma
26.
Sundaland
27.
Wallacea
28.
Philippines
29. Japan
30.
Southwest Australia
31. East
Melanesian Islands
32. New
Zealand
33. New
Caledonia
34.
Polynesia–Micronesia
35. Forests
of East Australia
36. North
American Coastal Plain
