Biodiversity Hotspots

Transcription

1 Biodiversity Hotspots

2 Biodiversity Hotspot: A biogeographic region characterized both by exceptional levels of plant endemism and by serious levels of habitat loss. - Norman Myers, 1988 A hotspot must contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants as endemics, and it has to have lost at least 70 percent of its original habitat.

3 There are thought to be 34 or 35 hotspots - each with unique, endemic wildlife under threat from human activities. These sites support nearly 60% of the world s plant, bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian species, with a very high share of endemic species.

4 Biodiversity Hotspots North and Central America 1. California Floristic Province 2. Caribbean Islands 3. Madrean pine-oak woodlands 4. Mesoamerica South America 5. Atlantic Forest 6. Cerrado 7. Chilean Winter Rainfall-Valdivian Forests 8. Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena 9. Tropical Andes Europe and Central Asia 10. Caucasus 11. Irano-Anatolian 12. Mediterranean Basin 13. Mountains of Central Asia Africa 14. Cape Floristic Region 15. Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa 16. Eastern Afromontane 17. Guinean Forests of West Africa 18. Horn of Africa 19. Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands 20. Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany 21. Succulent Karoo South Asia 22. Eastern Himalaya, India 23. Indo-Burma, India and Myanmar 24. Western Ghats & Sri Lanka South East Asia and Asia-Pacific 25. East Melanesian Islands 26. New Caledonia 27. New Zealand 28. Philippines 29. Polynesia-Micronesia 30. Southwest Australia 31. Sundaland 32. Wallacea East Asia 33. Japan 34. Mountains of Southwest China

5 Biodiversity Hotspot In Focus TROPICAL ANDES Diverse habitats stretching through 7 countries: Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. 45,000 Plant species [ 20,000 endemic 3,000+ vertebrate species [ 1,500 endemic 1666 Bird species 479 Reptile species 830 Amphibian species

6 Tropical Andes

7 Tropical Andes

8 Tropical Andes

9 Tropical Andes

10 Tropical Andes

11 Biodiversity Hotspot In Focus SUCCULENT KAROO The world s only plant hotspot - a desert ecoregion of South Africa and Namibia. 5,000+ Plant species [ 2,000 endemic A third of the world s 10,000 succulent plant species are found there. 115 Reptile species [ 63 endemic 50 Scorpion species [ 22 endemic

12 Succulent Karoo

13 Succulent Karoo

14 Succulent Karoo

15 Succulent Karoo

16 Succulent Karoo

17 Biodiversity Hotspot In Focus SUNDALAND This hotspot covers the western half of the Indo-Malayan archipelago, an arc of some 17,000 equatorial islands and is dominated by two of the largest islands in the world: Borneo and Sumatra. 25,000 Plant species [ 15,000 endemic 380 Mammal species [ 172 endemic 452 Reptile species [ 243 endemic 244 Amphibian species [ 196 endemic

18 Sundaland

19 Sundaland

20 Sundaland

21 Sundaland

22 Sundaland

23 Biodiversity Hotspots North and Central America 1. California Floristic Province 2. Caribbean Islands 3. Madrean pine-oak woodlands 4. Mesoamerica South America 5. Atlantic Forest 6. Cerrado 7. Chilean Winter Rainfall-Valdivian Forests 8. Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena 9. Tropical Andes Europe and Central Asia 10. Caucasus 11. Irano-Anatolian 12. Mediterranean Basin 13. Mountains of Central Asia Africa 14. Cape Floristic Region 15. Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa 16. Eastern Afromontane 17. Guinean Forests of West Africa 18. Horn of Africa 19. Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands 20. Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany 21. Succulent Karoo South Asia 22. Eastern Himalaya, India 23. Indo-Burma, India and Myanmar 24. Western Ghats & Sri Lanka South East Asia and Asia-Pacific 25. East Melanesian Islands 26. New Caledonia 27. New Zealand 28. Philippines 29. Polynesia-Micronesia 30. Southwest Australia 31. Sundaland 32. Wallacea East Asia 33. Japan 34. Mountains of Southwest China

24 California Floristic Province

25 Caribbean Islands

26 Madrean Pine-Oak Woodlands

27 Mesoamerica

28 Atlantic Forest

29 Cerrado

30 Chilean Winter Rainfall-Valdivian Forests

31 Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena

32 Tropical Andes

33 Caucasus

34 Irano-Anatolian

35 Mediterranean Basin

36 Mountains of Central Asia

37 Cape Floristic Region

38 Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa

39 Eastern Afromontane

40 Guinean Forests of West Africa

41 Horn of Africa

42 Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands

43 Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany

44 Succulent Karoo

45 Eastern Himalaya, Nepal

46 Indo-Burma, India and Myanmar

47 Western Ghats and Sri Lanka

48 East Melanesian Islands

49 New Caledonia

50 New Zealand

51 The Philippines

52 Polynesia-Micronesia

53 Southwest Australia

54 Sundaland

55 Wallacea

56 Japan

57 Mountains of Southwest China

58 All images naturepl.com For more information, or to license images from this pdf, please contact Tim Harris