Concentrated Centers of Ecological Richness
Biodiversity hotspots represent Earth's most biologically valuable yet threatened terrestrial regions characterized by exceptional concentrations of endemic species alongside alarming rates of habitat loss. These areas comprising just 2.4% of the planet's land surface harbor over 50% of the world's plant species and 42% of terrestrial vertebrates as endemic species found nowhere else. The concept was pioneered by ecologist Norman Myers in 1988 and later refined by Conservation International identifying 36 hotspots globally that serve as conservation priorities. Among the most notable are Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands where 90% of plant and animal species exist nowhere else on Earth; the Tropical Andes containing about onesixth of all plant life in less than 1% of the world's land area; and the Mediterranean Basin which despite millennia of human settlement still supports nearly 25000 plant species half of which are endemic to the region. Shutdown123