Biodiversity hotspots
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The main purpose of describing hotspots is to emphasize spatial variation in the value of biodiversity. As the locations of biodiversity hotspots describe areas of relatively high value, they are often used to guide conservation policy and planning.
Contents
Defining biodiversity hotspots
The idea of defining hotspots is generally credited to the ecologist Norman Myers, who suggested that global conservation efforts should be concentrated in areas where there were high numbers of endemic species and the threat to those species was high. The reasoning behind this approach is that the most cost effective way of reducing species extinctions is to focus resources on saving centres of threatened endemic species.
Other measures for hotspots
Global marine hotspot assessments
Regional and local hotspots
See also
http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/Pages/default.aspx
References
Myers, N. 1988 Threatened Biotas: "Hot Spots" in Tropical Forests. The Environmentalist 8, 1–20.
Roberts, C.M. et al. 2002. Marine biodiversity hotspots and conservation priorities for tropical reefs. Science 295, 1280-1284.
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