List of Biodiversity Hotspots in the World

Table of Contents

What are biodiversity hotspots?

The term ‘biodiversity hotspot’ was first coined by Norman Myers (1988).
He recognized 10 tropical forests as “hotspots” according to the level of plant endemism and high level of habitat loss. It, however, did not have any quantitative criteria for designating a region’s ecological hotspot.
Two years later, he added eight more hotspots, which increased the number of hotspots in the world increased to 18.
Conservation International (CI), subsequently, associated with Myers and made the first systematic update of the hotspots.
CI then introduced the following two strict quantitative criteria, for a region to qualify as a hotspot:
- At least 1,500 species of vascular plants should be present (> 0.5% of the world’s total) as endemics;
- Should have lost ≥ 70% of its original native habitat.

Biodiversity hotspots in the world

According to Conservation International, there are 36 biodiversity-rich areas in the world that have been qualified as hotspots.
These regions represent just 2.5% of the earth’s land surface but support over 50% of the world’s endemic plant species.
It includes nearly 43% of bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian species as endemics.

List of biodiversity hotspots in the world

Sl. No.	Name of the Hotspot	Location
1.	Tropical Andes	South America
2.	Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena	South America
3.	Madrean Pine–Oak Woodlands	North and Central America
4.	Cerrado	South America
5.	Chilean Winter Rainfall and Valdivian Forests	South America
6.	Atlantic Forest	South America
7.	Mesoamerica	North and Central America
8.	Caribbean Islands	North and Central America
9.	California Floristic Province	North and Central America
10.	Guinean Forests of West Africa	Africa
11.	Cape Floristic Region	Africa
12.	Succulent Karoo	Africa
13.	Maputaland–Pondoland–Albany	Africa
14.	Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa	Africa
15.	Eastern Afromontane	Africa
16.	Horn of Africa	Africa
17.	Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands	Africa
18	Mediterranean Basin	Europe and Central Asia
19.	Caucasus	Europe and Central Asia
20.	Irano-Anatolian	Europe and Central Asia
21.	Mountains of Central Asia	Europe and Central Asia
22.	Western Ghats and Sri Lanka	South Asia
23.	Himalaya	South Asia
24.	Mountains of Southwest China	East Asia
25.	Indo-Burma	South Asia
26.	Sundaland	Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific
27.	Wallacea	Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific
28.	Philippines	Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific
29.	Japan	East Asia
30.	Southwest Australia	Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific
31.	East Melanesian Islands	Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific
32.	New Zealand	Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific
33.	New Caledonia	Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific
34.	Polynesia–Micronesia	Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific
35.	Forests of East Australia	Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific
36.	North American Coastal Plain	North and Central America

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FAQs

What are Biodiversity Hotspots?

The term ‘biodiversity hotspot’ was first coined by Norman Myers (1988).
He recognised 10 tropical forests as “hotspots” according to the level of plant endemism and high level of habitat loss. It, however, did not had any quantitative criteria for designating a region ecological hotspot.
Two years later, he added eight more hotspots, which increased the number of hotspots in the world increased to 18.