The British biologist Norman Myers coined the term ‘ biodiversity hotspot’ in 1998 as a biogeography region characterized both by exceptional levels of plant endemism and by serious levels of habitat loss. Endemism means a species is found in a particular are only it is confined to that area and not found outside. According to Conservation international (CI) , to qualify as a hotspot a region must meet two criteria: it must contain at least 1500 species of vascular plants (more than 0.5% of the word’s total) as endemics, and it has to have lost at least 70% of its original habitat. At present there are total 34 biodiversity hotspots in the world, of which 3 are in India:
(1) Western Ghats
(2) North-east India; and
(3) Himalayas
Collectively these areas held as endemics include about 44% of the world’s plants and 35% of terrestrial vertebrates. The habitat extant of this area has been reduced by 88% of its original extant, such that this earth of biodiversity is now restricted to only around 2% of earth’s land surface. Thus, identification of biodiversity hotspots gives us the address of places where there is a need to start the measures for protection and conservation of biodiversity. The common regions of biodiversity hotspots are mentioned in the next topic ‘gene pool’.
India’s Biodiversity Hotspots
