(V. Savolainen et al.)
The HOTSPOTS EST (Marie Curie Actions, Host fellowships for Early Stage Research Training) involves a consortium of training institutions designed to provide the ESRs with both the multidisciplinary training necessary and the relevant field experience essential for their future careers in biodiversity and/or conservation. There are 9 core-partners, including the University of Lausanne, 1 NGO and 5 other organisations.
The Earth's biodiversity is threatened by human activities yet the sustainable use of biodiversity is fundamental to the future development of humanity. Because financial and human resources for nature conservation are limited, it is appropriate to focus efforts on the richest and most threatened reservoirs of biodiversity. About 25 such biodiversity hotspots have been recently proposed based on available data on plant and vertebrate species richness, endemism and threat status (www.biodiversityhotspots.org). While there is a wide consensus on the choice and geographical delimitation of hotspots, the dynamics of biodiversity in these hotspots and the ecological impacts of predicted biodiversity loss are still only poorly understood (e.g. Local endemism within the western Ghats-Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot. Science 306, 2004). In collaboration with partners in FP6-third countries, the European
HOTSPOTS consortium will work towards increasing the knowledge and understanding of biodiversity hotspots, including the Mediterranean Basin and some European overseas territories Applying field, molecular and bioinformatics approaches to flagship plants and animals, HOTSPOTS will train a new generation of multidisciplinary biologists in state-of-the-art methods of evolution, ecology, and conservation.