Lecture – 28
Biodiversity & Its Conservation
India as a mega-diversity nation,
Hot spots of biodiversity
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Contents
• India as a mega-diversity nation,
• Hot spots of biodiversity
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Megadiverse Countries
• The mega-diverse countries are those that
house the largest indices of biodiversity,
including a large number of endemic
species. This concept was first proposed in
1988 by Russell Mittermeier and is now used
to raise awareness to the protection of natural
biodiversity, and particularly in the countries
where this is more abundant and threatened.
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• Although they only account for around
10% of the Earth's surface, the mega-
diverse countries house at least 70% of
the planet's terrestrial biological
diversity, including more than two thirds
of all non-fish vertebrae species and
three quarters of all the higher plant
species.
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• The World Conservation Monitoring Centre
(WCMC) of the United Nations Environment
Program has identified a total of 17 mega-
diverse countries: Australia, Brazil, China,
Colombia, Ecuador, United States,
Philippines, India, Indonesia, Madagascar,
Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru,
Democratic Republic of Congo, South
Africa and Venezuela.
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• Aside from the WCMC, in 2002 a
total of 12 of the main developing
countries considered mega-diverse
gathered in Mexico: Brazil, China,
Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador,
India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico,
Peru, South Africa and Venezuela.
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• India is one of the world’s megadiverse
countries, with 45,000 plant species and
twice as many animal species.
• India has only 2.4 per cent of the world’s
land area, but it has 8.1 per cent of the
world’s species diversity, making it one of
the world’s 12 mega diversity countries.
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Hot spots of biodiversity
• A biodiversity hotspot is a bio geographic
region with a significant reservoir
of biodiversity that is under threat from
humans.
• A hotspot is an area which faces serious
threat from human activities and supports a
unique biodiversity (endemic, threatened,
rare species) with representatives of
evolutionary of speciation and extinction.
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• The concept of biodiversity hotspots was
originated by Norman Myres in 1988.
• To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, a
region must meet two strict criteria:
– it must contain at least 0.5% or 1,500
species of vascular plants as endemics,
– and it has lost at least 70% of its
primary vegetation.
• Currently, 36 biodiversity hotspots have been identified in
the world, most of which occur in tropical forests. They
represent just 2.3% of Earth’s land surface, but between
them they contain around 50% of the world’s endemic
plant species and 42% of all terrestrial vertebrates.
• Overall, Hotspots have lost around 86% of their
original habitat and additionally are considered to be
significantly threatened by extinctions induced by climate
change.
• These sites support nearly 60% of the worlds plant, bird,
mammal, reptiles and amphibian species with a very high
share of endemic species.
Africa
1. Cape Floristic Region
2. Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa
3. Eastern Afromontane
4. Guinean Forests of West Africa
5. Horn of Africa
6. Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands
7. Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany
8. Succulent Karoo
Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific
1. East Melanesian Islands
2. New Caledonia
3. New Zealand
4. Philippines
5. Polynesia-Micronesia
6. Eastern Australian temperate forests
7. Southwest Australia
8. Sundaland, Indonesia and Nicobar islands of India
9. Wallacea of Indonesia
North and Central America
1. California Floristic Province
2. Madrean pine–oak woodlands
3. Mesoamerica
4. North American Coastal Plain
South America
1. Atlantic Forest
2. Cerrado
3. Chilean Winter Rainfall-Valdivian Forests
4. Tumbes–Chocó–Magdalena
5. Tropical Andes
The Caribbean
1. Caribbean Islands
East Asia
1. Japan
2. Mountains of Southwest China
West Asia
1. Caucasus
2. Irano-Anatolian
Europe
1. Mediterranean Basin
Central Asia
1. Mountains of Central Asia
South Asia
1. Eastern Himalaya
2. Indo-Burma, Bangladesh, India and Myanmar
3. Western Ghats and Sri Lanka
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Hotspots in India
According to Conservation International, a region must fulfil the
following two criteria to qualify as a hotspot:
1. The region should have at least 1500 species of vascular plants
i.e., it should have a high degree of endemism.
2. It must contain 30% (or less) of its original habitat, i.e. it must be
threatened.
Following the criteria for an area to be declared as a Biodiversity
Hotspot, there are major four biodiversity hotspots in India:
1. The Himalayas
2. Indo-Burma Region
3. The Western Ghats
4. Sundaland 16
❑Eastern Himalayas:
➢ The Eastern Himalayan hotspot has nearly 163
globally threatened species including the One-
horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), the Wild
Asian Water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis (Arnee)) and
in all 45 mammals, 50 birds, 17 reptiles, 12
amphibians, 3 invertebrate and 36 plant species.
➢ The Relict Dragonfly (Epiophlebia laidlawi) is an
endangered species found here with the only other
species in the genus being found in Japan.
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➢The region is also home to the Himalayan
Newt (Tylototriton verrucosus), the
only salamander species found within Indian
limits.
➢There are an estimated 10,000 species of
plants in the Himalayas, of which one-third
are endemic and found nowhere else in the
world.
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• A few threatened endemic bird species such
as the Himalayan Quail, Cheer pheasant,
Western tragopan are found here, along with
some of Asia's largest and most endangered
birds such as the Himalayan
vulture and White-bellied heron.
• The Himalayas are home to over 300 species
of mammals, a dozen of which are endemic.
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• Mammals like the Golden langur, The Himalayan
tahr, the pygmy hog, Langurs, Asiatic wild
dogs, sloth bears, Gaurs, Muntjac, Sambar, Snow
leopard, Black bear, Blue sheep, Takin, the Gangetic
dolphin, wild water buffalo, swamp deer .
• The only endemic genus in the hotspot is
the Namadapha flying squirrel which is critically
endangered and is described only from a single
specimen from Namdapha National Park.
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❑Western Ghats:
• These regions have moist deciduous forest and rain
forest.
• The region shows high species diversity as well as
high levels of endemism.
• Nearly 77% of the amphibians and 62% of the
reptile species found here are found nowhere else.
• There are over 6000 vascular plants belonging to
over 2500 genera in this hotspot, of which over
3000 are endemic.
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• Much of the world's spices such as black
pepper and cardamom have their origins in the
Western Ghats.
• The highest concentration of species in the
Western Ghats is believed to be
the Agasthyamalai Hills in the extreme south.
• The region also harbours over 450 bird species,
about 140 mammalian species, 260 reptiles and
175 amphibians.
• Over 60% of the reptiles and amphibians are
completely endemic to the hotspot.
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Indo – Burma Region
• The Indo-Burma Region is stretched over a distance of
2,373,000 km². In the last 12 years, 6 large mammal
species have been discovered in this region: the Large-
antlered Muntjac, the Annamite Muntjac, the Grey-
shanked Douc, the Annamite Striped Rabbit, the Leaf
Deer, and the Saola.
• This hotspot is also known for the endemic freshwater
turtle species, most of which are threatened with
extinction, due to over-harvesting and extensive habitat
loss. There are also 1,300 different bird species, including
the threatened White-eared Night-heron, the Grey-
crowned Crocias, and the Orange-necked Partridge.
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Sundaland
• The Sundaland hotspot lies in Southeast Asia and
covers Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei,
and Malaysia.
• In the year 2013, the Sundaland 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 which
comprises 25,000 species of vascular plants, of
which 15,000 are found only in this region. 24
