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In 1990, the article was revised and thoroughly analyzed by Myers and other researchers, culminating in “Hotspots: Earth’s Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions”. In this article, he identified 10 tropical forest “hotspots” as conservation priorities, which were characterized by an extraordinarily large number of endemic plant species found in relatively smaller areas, besides facing serious threats of habitat loss. The concept of biodiversity hotspot was first proposed by the British Ecologist - Norman Myers in his seminal article - “The Environmentalist”, which was published in 1988. The current population data also shows that about 2.08 billion people reside in the hotspot regions and are dependent on these forest areas for their survival.
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As per the Red List of Threatened Species that have been prepared by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), more than 79% of the threatened amphibians, 63% of the threatened birds, and 60% of the threatened mammals can be found exclusively within these hotspots. It has been estimated that about 3608 amphibians, 3723 reptiles, 3551 birds, and 1845 mammals are found as endemicsin these hotspot regions. These regions support more than 152,000 (about 50%) of the global vascular plant species and 42% of all vertebrate species (amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) as endemics. km) of the earth’s land area and accounts for about 35% of the world’s ecosystem services. However, due to the extreme habitat loss in these regions as a result of the anthropogenic activities, the combined area of all the global hotspots currently covers only 2.4% (about 3.4 million sq.
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The total combined area of the world’s 36 hotspots once occupied over 15.7% i.e., about 23.7 million sq. The following article discusses these areas called “biodiversity hotspots” and the importance of conserving such places for securing our global biodiversity. The exploration and assessment of the biodiversity of such areas are, hence, very much essential for the formulation of new strategies that are required for the conservation and management of the species. This unequal species distribution together with the concern about the high biodiversity loss has led to the identification of specific areas where high levels of both biodiversity and threats to the same exist simultaneously. Moreover, the earth’s biodiversity is facing severe threats from various anthropogenic activities. Some regions possess a high concentration of endemic species that are not found anywhere else on the planet. The distribution of species is, however, not even around the world. It has been estimated that about 8.7 million species currently exist on Earth, of which only 1.2 million species have been discovered by scientists so far. Our Earth is a treasure house of exceptional biological wealth whose distribution ranges from the high mountain peaks to the deepest ocean depths as well as from the tropical regions to the polar areas.