Biodiversity hotspot

A biogeographic region with exceptional concentrations of endemic species and extensive habitat loss, designated as a conservation priority.

Endemism: The restriction of a species or other taxon to a particular geographic area. Hotspot criteria count endemic plants as evidence of irreplaceable biological uniqueness.
Norman Myers: A British ecologist who developed the biodiversity-hotspot concept in the late twentieth century. Myers proposed identifying conservation priorities by combining endemism with habitat destruction.
Tropical Andes: A biodiversity hotspot extending along the Andes through parts of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Its exceptional plant endemism and extensive habitat loss make it a prominent hotspot.
Protected area: A geographically defined area managed to achieve the long-term conservation of nature. Hotspot maps can guide where protected areas are proposed or expanded.
Habitat loss: The reduction, degradation, or destruction of natural environments used by organisms. A region qualifies as a hotspot only after losing a substantial share of its original vegetation.
Conservation International: An international conservation organization that helped establish and apply the global hotspot framework. The organization formalized hotspot criteria and promoted their use in conservation planning.
Cape Floristic Region: A region at Africa’s southwestern tip known for exceptionally diverse, endemic fynbos vegetation. It is a compact hotspot whose plant diversity is unusually high for its area.
Conservation biology: An interdisciplinary science focused on protecting biological diversity and sustaining natural systems. Hotspots became a widely used spatial tool within conservation biology.
Species richness: The number of species present in a defined area. Richness describes diversity, but does not by itself establish hotspot status.
Hotspot criteria: Thresholds requiring at least 1,500 endemic vascular plant species and loss of at least 70% of original vegetation. These thresholds determine which regions receive the designation.

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