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BIODIVERSITY HOT SPOTS

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• Regions with high species richness and a high

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degree of endemism

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• The British biologist Norman Myers coined the

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term "biodiversity hotspot" in 1988 as a bio-
geographic region characterized both by
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exceptional levels of plant endemism and by
serious levels of habitat loss
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• Conservation International (CI) adopted Myers’

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hotspots and in 1996

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 CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL

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• Conservation International (CI) is an
American nonprofit environmental organization

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• Its mission is to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that

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nature provides to humanity, such as food, fresh water,
livelihoods and a stable climate

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• Created in 1987
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• In 1989, CI formally committed to the protection of biodiversity

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hotspots, ultimately identifying 36 such hotspots around the

world and contributing to their protection
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CRITERIA TO QUALIFY

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According to CI, to qualify as a hotspot a region must meet
two strict criteria:

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1) Species endemism: It must contain at least 1,500 species
of vascular plants (> 0.5% of the world’s total) as endemics

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– which is to say, it must have a high percentage of plant
life found nowhere else on the planet. A hotspot, in other
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words, is irreplaceable

2) Degree of threat: It has to have lost at least 70% of its

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original habitat. (It must have 30% or less of its original

natural vegetation). In other words, it must be threatened
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BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS OF THE WORLD

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• In 1999, CI identified 25 biodiversity hotspots in the book
“Hotspots: Earth’s Biologically Richest and Most Endangered

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Terrestrial Ecoregions”

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• In 2005 CI published an updated titled “Hotspots Revisited: Earth's
Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions”

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• The 36 biodiversity hotspots cover 2.4% of the Earth's land surface,
yet more than 50% of the world’s plant species and 43% of all
terrestrial vertebrate species are endemic to these areas
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• 2017-THE NORTH AMERICAN COASTAL PLAIN. The North American

Coastal Plain (NACP) – was recognized only recently as meeting the
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criteria for a global biodiversity hotspot

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 BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS IN INDIA

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1) Himalaya: Includes the entire Indian Himalayan region (and that
falling in Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Myanmar)

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2) Indo-Burma: Includes entire North-eastern India, except Assam and

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Andaman group of Islands (and Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos,
Cambodia and southern China)

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3) Sundalands: Includes Nicobar group of Islands (and Indonesia,
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Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines)

4) Western Ghats and Sri Lanka: Includes entire Western Ghats (and Sri
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Lanka)
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HIMALAYA

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• Eastern Himalayas, which was originally part

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of the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot and

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included Bhutan, north-eastern India and
southern, central and eastern Nepal

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• In 2004, a hotspot reappraisal classified the
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region as part of two hotspots: Indo-Burma

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and the newly distinguished Himalaya

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HIMALAYA

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INDO-BURMA

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• The Indo-Burma region encompasses several

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countries

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• It is spread out from Eastern Bangladesh to

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Malaysia and includes North-Eastern India
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south of Brahmaputra river, Myanmar, the
southern part of China’s Yunnan province, Lao
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People’s Democratic Republic, Cambodia,

Vietnam and Thailand
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INDO-BURMA

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WESTERN GHATS AND SRI LANKA

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• Encompasses the mountain forests in the southwestern parts of

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India and highlands of southwestern Sri Lanka

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• The entire extent of hotspot was originally about 1,82,500 square
kms, but due to tremendous population pressure, now only 12,445

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square Km or 6.8% is in pristine condition
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• The wide variation of rainfall patterns in the Western Ghats,
coupled with the region’s complex geography, produces a great
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variety of vegetation types

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WESTERN GHATS AND SRI LANKA

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or
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SUNDALAND

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Nicobar

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UPSC 2010 Question

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Q. Consider the following statements:
1) Biodiversity hotspots are located only in tropical regions.

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2) India has four biodiversity hotspots, i.e., Eastern
Himalayas, Western Himalayas, Western Ghats and

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Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

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Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither I nor 2
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Features of Indian Biodiversity Hotspots

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• The Himalaya Hotspot is home to important populations of numerous large birds

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and mammals, including vultures, tigers, elephants, rhinos and wild water buffalo

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• Indo-Burma holds remarkable endemism in freshwater turtle species, most of
which are threatened with extinction, due to over-harvesting and extensive
habitat loss

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• The spectacular flora and fauna of the Sundaland Hotspot are succumbing to the
explosive growth of industrial forestry in these islandsand to the international
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animal trade that claims tigers, monkeys etc.

• Faced with tremendous population pressure, the forests of the Western Ghats
and Sri Lanka have been dramatically impacted by the demands for timber and
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agricultural land.
• The region also houses important populations of Asian Elephants, Indian Tigers,
the Lion-tailed Macaque, Niligiri tahr, Indian Giant squirrel,
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etc.
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THE HOTTEST HOT SPOTS

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• Some hot spots are much richer than others

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in terms of their numbers of endemics

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• Five key factors have been taken into
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consideration and those biodiversity hot spot
tops the list with respect to these five factors
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are considered as hottest hot spots.

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THE HOTTEST HOT SPOTS

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• Factors
1. Endemic plants

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2. Endemic vertebrates
3. Endemic plants/area ratio (species per 100km2)
4. Endemic vertebrates/area ratio (species per 100km2)

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5. Remaining primary vegetation as % of original extent
The eight hottest hot spots in terms of fve factors
1. Madagascar

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2. Philippines
3. Sundaland PS
4. Brazil’s Atlantic Forest
5. Caribbean
6. Indo-Burma
7. Western Ghats/Sri Lanka
8. Eastern Arc and Coastal Forests of Tanzania/Kenya
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These eight `hottest hot spots’, appear at least three times

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in the top ten listings for each factor.

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 BIODIVERSITY COLDSPOTS

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• Have relatively low biological diversity but are also experiencing a
high rate of habitat loss

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• Although a biodiversity coldspot is low in species richness,

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it can also be important to conserve, as it may be the
only location where a rare species is found

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• Extreme physical environments (low or high temperatures or
pressures, or unusual chemical composition) inhabited by just one
or two specially adapted species are coldspots that warrant
conservation because they represent unique environments that are
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biologically and physically interesting.
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BIODIVERSITY COLDSPOTS

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or
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