Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 6, 2026
07:10
At-Risk Butterfly Captive Propagation Programs to Enhance Life History Knowledge and Effective Ex Situ Conservation Techniques
Published on: February 11, 2020
Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities
N Myers1, R A Mittermeier, C G Mittermeier
1Green College, Oxford University, Headington, UK. myers1n@aol.com
Nature
|March 8, 2000
Summary
Limited funding challenges conservation efforts. Identifying biodiversity hotspots, areas with high concentrations of endemic species facing habitat loss, offers a cost-effective conservation strategy.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Conservation Biology
- Biogeography
Background:
- Conservation efforts are constrained by limited funding, necessitating strategic prioritization.
- Identifying areas with high species concentration and habitat loss is crucial for efficient resource allocation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a cost-effective conservation strategy by identifying biodiversity hotspots.
- To determine the proportion of endemic species concentrated in specific high-risk areas.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of species distribution data for vascular plants and four vertebrate groups.
- Identification of 'biodiversity hotspots' based on high concentrations of endemic species and habitat loss.
- Calculation of the land surface area occupied by these hotspots.
Main Results:
- 25 biodiversity hotspots identified, covering only 1.4% of the Earth's land surface.
- These hotspots contain 44% of all vascular plant species and 35% of all species in four vertebrate groups.
- A significant proportion of global biodiversity is concentrated in a small geographic area.
Conclusions:
- Biodiversity hotspots represent a critical focus for conservation planning due to their high species concentration and threat level.
- A 'silver bullet' conservation strategy targeting these hotspots can maximize species protection per unit cost.
- Prioritizing these areas allows for efficient allocation of limited conservation resources to protect the most species at risk.
Related Concept Videos
01:19What is Biodiversity?
Biodiversity describes the variety of living things at multiple organizational levels: genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. Species diversity includes all branches of the evolutionary tree from single-celled prokaryotic organisms, bacteria, and archaea, to the eukaryotic kingdoms: plants; animals; fungi; and protists. To date, there have been about 1.75 million species identified, and new species are discovered every week.
01:50Threats to Biodiversity
There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
01:24Biodiversity and Human Values
Human civilization relies on biodiversity in many ways. Sudden changes in species biodiversity result in environmental changes that can modify weather patterns and therefore human civilizations.
01:57What is Conservation Biology?
Conservation biology is a scientific field that focuses on the preservation of biodiversity in order to protect ecosystems while meeting the needs of the human population. Humans require properly functioning ecosystems to maintain our supply of natural resources, including food, medicines, and building materials.
02:04Conservation of Small Populations
Small population sizes put a species at extreme risk of extinction due to a lack of variation, and a consequent decrease in adaptability. This weakens the chances of survival under pressures such as climate change, competition from other species, or new diseases. Large populations are more likely to survive pressures such as these, as such populations are more likely to harbor individuals that have genetic variants that are adaptive under new stresses. Small populations are much less likely to...
02:31Habitat Fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.