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Diversity Hot Spots Around the World
In 1988, British ecologist Norman Myers published an article in which he identified international conservation priorities on the basis of "hot spots," or areas exhibiting high degrees of species richness (numbers of species), endemism (taxa that are restricted to a particular area and occur nowhere else), and threats to them. At the time, Myers identified ten hot spots, all tropical forest regions that together contained at least 14 percent of the world's plants.
During the past two decades, the concept of biodiversity hot spots has been considerably refined. Conservation International has identified 34 hot spots. Each harbors at least 1,500 endemic plant species, those that are found nowhere else in the world. And each has lost at least 70 percent of its original extent.
The World Wildlife Fund has also compiled a list of ecological regions, collectively called the Global 200, that are critical to the conservation of global biodiversity.