HOT SPOTS OF BIODIVERSITY IN INDIA

• Biodiversity hotspots are regions that contain a high level of species

diversity, many endemic species (species not found anywhere else in
the world) and a significant number of threatened or
endangered species
• There were 36 recognized biodiversity hotspots worldwide
• Four of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots are located in India: The
Himalayas, Western Ghats, Indo-Burma area, and Sundaland.
• Hotspots were first defined and promoted by Conservation
International. Conservation International was founded in 1989, just
one year after scientist Norman Myers published the article that
popularised the idea of safeguarding these beautiful places.
• A region must satisfy two strict requirements in order to be
considered a biodiversity hotspot:Include at least 1,500 vascular plant
species that are unique to the planet (known as “endemic”
species).Have lost the majority of their native vegetation by at least
70%. In other words, it must be threatened.
ENDEMISM
Endemism means that species of plants or animal is confined to a
particular location in a specific habitat and is not found anywhere else.
• There are four Biodiversity Hotspots in India:
1.Himalaya
2.Indo-Burma
3.Western Ghtas
4.Sundaland
Himalayas
• All of the world’s mountain peaks higher than 8,000 meters, including
Mt. Everest (8,849 metres), are found within the Himalayan hotspot,
which spans more than 3,000 kilometres across northern Pakistan,
Nepal, Bhutan, and the northwest and northeastern states of India.
• It also has several of the deepest river gorges in the world.
• The Himalayan Mountain range is nearly 7.5 million square kilometres
in size and is divided into the Eastern Himalaya, which includes parts
of Nepal, Bhutan, the northeastern Indian states of West Bengal,
Sikkim, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh, and the Western Himalaya,
which includes parts of Kumaon-Garhwal, northwest Kashmir, and
northern Pakistan.
• The Himalayan mountains are home to a variety of ecosystems
including,
• Mixed conifer and conifer forests in the higher hills, Alpine meadows
above the tree line, the tallest alluvial grasslands in the world
Subtropical broadleaf forests along the foothills, Temperate broadleaf
forests in the mid hills
• Even at heights higher than 6,000 meters, vascular plants have been
discovered. Numerous big bird and mammal populations, including
vultures, tigers, elephants, rhinos, and wild water buffalo, can be
found in the hotspot.
Threats to Himalayan Biodiversity
• Promoting both outside immigration and internal migration and
leading to an exponential increase in the human population in some
of the locations with the greatest biodiversity.
• Due to widespread legal and illegal logging, especially on steep
slopes, as well as the substantial removal of forests and meadows for
farming, there has been serious erosion.
• During the summer, the area is frequently burned to make way for
livestock, which provides an extra hazard to the forest because fires
can occasionally go out of control.
• Rapid deforestation and habitat fragmentation were the results of the
conversion of forests and grasslands for agriculture and settlements,
mainly in Nepal and the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal
(Darjeeling), and Assam.
• Additionally, certain forest ecosystems have been severely harmed by
anthropogenic activities such as domestic cattle overgrazing,
overharvesting plants for traditional medicine, collecting fuel wood,
and extraction of non-timber forest products.
• Unplanned and poorly managed tourism operations exacerbate
environmental damage.
• In the Himalayas, illegal poaching is a significant problem; tigers and
rhinoceroses are targeted for their body parts for use in traditional
remedies, whilst snow leopards and red pandas are targeted for
their stunning pelts.
Indo-Burma
• The Indo-Burma hotspot is the largest of the world’s 36 recognised
hotspots, covering a total area of 2,373,000 km2.
• The Indo-Burma hotspot formerly encompassed parts of northeastern
India, Bangladesh, and Malaysia
• The hotspot has an incredible geographic diversity, ranging from the tallest
peak in Southeast Asia to coastlines along the Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea,
Gulf of Thailand, and South China Sea.
• Along with several of Asia’s greatest rivers and their lush floodplains and
deltas, it also comprises the eastern extensions of the Himalayas, remote
massifs, and plateaus
• Due to the diversity of its landforms and climatic zones, the Indo-
Burma hotspot supports a wide range of habitats and, as a result, a
high level of overall biodiversity.
• In the past 12 years, six new species of big mammals have been
identified in this area:Large-antlered Muntjac,Annamite
Muntjac,Grey-shanked Douc,Annamite Striped Rabbit,Leaf Deer,Saola
• The majority of the endemic freshwater turtle species found in this
hotspot are in danger of going extinct because of overfishing and
habitat destruction.
• The severely endangered White-eared Night-heron, Grey-crowned
Crocias, and Orange-necked Partridge are among the 1,300 bird
species that exist.
• The hotspot’s most diverse ecosystems are its forests. From evergreen
forests with a great diversity of canopy tree species to semi-evergreen
and mixed deciduous forests with few tree species, the hotspot
supports a wide range of forest types.
• The hotspot’s limestone karst formations are home to extremely rare
ecosystems with high levels of endemism, especially in plants,
reptiles, and molluscs—species that are entirely unique and are
found nowhere else.
Threats to Indo-Burma
• Indo-Burma is one of the top five most endangered biodiversity
hotspots, according to Conservation International, due to the rate of
resource extraction and habitat loss.
• The greatest threats to this hotspot’s biodiversity are logging, over-
exploitation of natural resources, industrial agriculture, trade and
consumption of wildlife, the building of massive infrastructures
including dams, highways, and ports, and climate change.
• In Indo-Burma, commercial timber exploitation ranks second among
the causes of deforestation.
WESTERN GHATS
• The Western Ghats sometimes referred to as the Sahyadri Hills locally,
are made up of the Malabar Plains and a group of mountains that
extend 30 to 50 kilometres inland and parallel to India’s western
coast.
• Numerous rivers, including the three main eastward-flowing rivers on
the peninsula, originate in these highlands. As a result, they serve as
essential sources of power, irrigation, and drinking water.
• There are many different types of vegetation in the Western Ghats
due to the region’s complicated geography and varying rainfall
patterns.They include scrub forests in low-lying rain shadow regions
and on the plains, deciduous and tropical rainforests.
Threats to the Western Ghats
• The forests of the Western Ghats have been heavily fragmented and
selectively cut across their whole range.For monoculture plantations
of tea, coffee, rubber, oil palm, teak, eucalyptus, and wattle as well as
to make room for reservoirs, highways, and railways, forests have
been removed.
• More forests are lost due to encroachment into protected areas. On
slopes that were once covered in forest, cattle and goat grazing inside
and close to protected zones severely erodes them.
• Intense hunting pressure, fuel wood extraction, and the harvesting of
non-timber forest products are placed on the few surviving forest
sections.
• Other concerns include unrestrained tourism and forest fires.
• The conflict between humans and wildlife has increased as a result of
population growth in protected zones and other woods. In an effort to
stop more harm, wild animals are routinely killed or hurt, and farmers
are typically under-compensated.
SUNDALAND
• The Sundaland hotspot is located in South-East India (South of West
Bengal , Bangladesh)
• In the year 2013, the Sundalands was declared as a World Biosphere
Reserve by the United Nations.
• This region is famous for its rich terrestrial and marine ecosystem.
Sundaland is one of the biologically richest hotspots in the world.
Threats to Biodiversity in Sundaland
• The stunning flora and wildlife of the Sundaland Hotspot are being
rapidly destroyed by industrial forestry on these islands
• Global traffic in animals, uses tigers, monkeys, and turtle species for
food and medicine in other nations.Only in this area are orangutans
located, and their population is rapidly declining.
• Like many other tropical regions, the forests are being destroyed for
business.
• The production of pulp, oil palm, and rubber are three of the most
harmful factors endangering biodiversity in the Sundaland Hotspot.