Hotspots of Biodiversity
In order to concentrate resources on those areas that are most vulnerable, conservationists have identified certain areas as biodiversity ?hotspots.? The term, first used by British ecologist Norman Myers in 1988, designated areas losing habitat at a high rate in which there is a disproportionate number of species found nowhere else. In 2000, Myers and others identified 25 ?hotspots? that together comprise only 1.4 percent of the Earth’s surface, yet contain 44 percent of all species of higher plants and 35 percent of all land vertebrate species. Conservation International has since adopted the concept as the base of its conservation management strategy.
Hotspots are often defined according to their plant vegetation. To Myers, a hotspot has to contain at least 0.5 percent of the world’s 300,000 plant species as endemics. Conservation International has since defined it to be a region containing at least 1,500 species of vascular plants as endemics and having lost at least 70 percent of its original habitat. Most—but not all—are in tropical areas, and many are in developing countries where populations rely on species-rich ecosystems for food, firewood, cropland, and income from timber. Hotspots in developed countries face different pressure, primarily from land development and introduced species.
Encyclopedia of the Earth: Biodiversity Hotspots
This collection contains detailed descriptions of some of the world’s most important areas of biological diversity as identified by Conservation International.
Conservation International: Hotspots
Conservation International is developing strategies to preserve biodiversity worldwide though research, technical assistance, and investment in these vulnerable areas.