The content of this website is no longer being updated. For information on current assessment activities, please visit http://www.globalchange.gov/what-we-do/assessment
Biodiversity Hotspots for Conservation Priorities
Title | Biodiversity Hotspots for Conservation Priorities |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2000 |
Authors | Myers, N., R. A. Mittermeier, C. G. Mittermeier, G. A. B. da Fonseca, and J. Kent |
Journal | Nature |
Volume | 403 |
Issue | 6772 |
Pagination | 853-858 |
Date Published | FEB 24 2000 |
ISBN Number | 0028-0836 |
Keywords | AREAS, BIRDS, DIVERSITY, EXTINCTION, FOREST, RICHNESS |
Abstract | Consenrationists are far from able to assist all species under threat, if only for lack of funding. This places a premium on priorities: how can we support the most species at the least cost? One way is to identify 'biodiversity hotspots' where exceptional concentrations of endemic species are undergoing exceptional loss of habitat. As many as 44% of all species of vascular plants and 35% of all species in four vertebrate groups are confined to 25 hotspots comprising only 1.4% of the land surface of the Earth. This opens the way for a 'silver bullet' strategy on the part of conservation planners, focusing on these hotspots in proportion to their share of the world's species at risk. |
Reference number | 467 |
Short Title | Biodiversity Hotspots for Conservation Priorities |
Citation Key | 467 |