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HOTSPOT/BIODIVERSITY


source: http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/
xp/Hotspots/hotspotsScience/
pages/hotspots_revisited.aspx

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biodiversity

The amount of biodiversity contained in the hotspots is extremely high. More than half of the planet’s species are endemic to only 16% of its land area…

  • between them, the hotspots hold at least 150,000 plant species as endemics, 50% of the world’s total;


  • the total number of terrestrial vertebrates endemic to the hotspots is 11,980, representing 42% of all terrestrial vertebrate species. Reptiles and amphibians are more prone to hotspot endemism than are the more wide-ranging mammals and birds, but the overall similarity between taxonomic groups is remarkable. Overall, 22,022 terrestrial vertebrate species call the hotpots home, 77% of the world's total.
With rapid increases in data quality and synthesis, we can now derive species lists for each hotspot, above and beyond estimated species numbers. The current analysis also includes the first assessment of inland fishes across all hotspots.

  • Although most current statistics are likely underestimates -- because almost 200 freshwater fish species are discovered each year -- the hotpots already hold 29% of the world's freshwater fish species as endemics, with 55% of species occurring.
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