Identification and protection of terrestrial global biodiversity hotspots: progress and challenges

Figures & data

Table 1 Components of biodiversity assessment and measurement tools

Number	Parameters	Remote sensing	Ground measurement/GPS	GIS-based (derived/integrated spatial layer)
A	Human interventions
1	Logging/grazing	√	√	√
2	Fire	√	√	√
3	NTFP resources extraction	√	√	√
4	Trampling	√	√	√
5	Plantation	√	√	√
6	Agriculture	√	√	√
7	Encroachment/clearances	√	√	√
8	Infrastructure	√	√	√
B	Natural processes	√	√
10	Climate	√	√	√
11	Erosion	√	√	√
12	Topography/soil	√	√	√
C	Structure and function		√
14	vertical structure	√	√	√
15	Size class distribution		√
16	Relative abundance		√
17	Gap frequency	√	√	√
18	Canopy openness	√	√	√
19	Standing and fallen dead wood		√	√
20	Trophic dynamics		√	√
21	Other structural elements		√
D	Landscape level
22	Vegetation type and extent	√		√
23	Landscape diversity	√		√
24	Species diversity	√	√	√
25	Number of patches per unit area	√		√
26	Neighbourhood	√		√
27	Patch shape	√		√
28	Core-edge ratio	√		√
E	Habitat level
29	Species assemblages/communities	√	√	√
30	Species diversity	√	√	√
31	Interior to exterior habitat	√	√	√
32	Regeneration	√	√	√
33	Habitat extinction	√	√	√
F	Species level
34	Reproduction		√
36	Dispersal/migration		√
37	Regeneration		√
38	Location extinction		√

Note: Reproduced from Murthy MSR, Giriraj A, Dutt CBS. Geoinformatics for biodiversity assessment. Biol Lett. 2003;40(2):75–100.⁵⁹

Abbreviations: GPS, Global Positioning System; GIS, Geographic Information System; NTFP, non-timber forest product.

Table 2 Characteristics of global biodiversity hotspots

Name of the hotspot	Intact natural vegetation (%)^*	Intact area remaining (km^2)^*	Endemic species density (no/100 km^2)^*	HDI^**
Africa
Cape floristic region	32.9	25,902	24	0.658
Coastal forest of Eastern Africa	3.8	11,092	16	0.472
Eastern Afromontane	9.0	91,809	3	0.348
Guinean forests of West Africa	10.6	65,907	3	0.462
Horn of Africa	23.8	395,821	1	0.511
Madagascar and Indian Ocean	4.4	26,481	44	0.498
Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany	6.4	17,473	11	0.658
Succulent Karoo	6.5	6,690	36	0.641
Africa mean	12.2	80,147	17	0.531
Asia-Pacific
East Malanesia Islands	10.7	10,658	28	0.532
Forests of eastern Australia	34.8	88,854	2	0.933
Himalaya	17.6	130,833	2	0.562
Indo-Burma	8.7	206,914	3	0.612
Japan	8.2	30,695	6	0.890
Mountains of Southwest People’s	21.3	56,026	6	0.791
Republic of China New Caledonia	17.5	3,468	70	0.844
New Zealand	30.2	81,783	2	0.910
Philippines	8.0	23,828	25	0.660
Polynesia-Micronesia	5.2	2,463	125	0.756
Southwest Australia	30.6	109,400	3	0.933
Sundaland	22.8	343,004	4	0.691
wallacea	13.8	46,818	3	0.687
western Ghats and Sri Lanka	6.3	11,972	25	0.668
Asia-Pacific mean	16.8	81,908	22	0.748
Europe and Central Asia
Caucasus	8.2	43,776	4	0.757
irano-Anatolian	3.6	32,464	8	0.724
Mediterranean basin	4.4	91,959	13	0.738
Mountains of central Asia	5.8	50,187	3	0.648
Europe and Central Asia mean	5.5	54,597	7	0.717
North and Central America
California floristic province	34.8	102,473	2	0.914
Caribbean Islands	5.8	13,344	49	0.740
Madrean Pine-Oak woodland	18.1	83,676	5	0.756
Mesoamerica	14.1	159,690	2	0.692
North and Central America mean	18.2	89,796	14	0.776
South America
Atlantic forests of Brazil	3.5	43,283	18	0.744
Cerrado	19.8	403,237	1	0.744
Chilean winter rainfall and Valvidean forest	34.2	136,128	1	0.822
Tropical Andes	33.3	514,858	2	0.746
Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena	29.8	82,010	3	0.737
South America mean	24.1	235,903	5	0.759
Global mean	15.7	101,285	4	0.699

Notes: The bold values are the mean values for the continent. The HDI of the biodiversity hotspots across potlitical boundaries are the mean of the HDI of the respective countries.

* Compiled from Conservation International, 2011. Biodiversity Hotspots Revisited, Conservation Synthesis, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science at Conservation International, Publication Date: 2011, Online Linkages: http://www.conservation.org/How/Pages/Hotspots.aspx. Accessed March 19, 2015.³

** Compiled from UNDP 2015. http://hdr.undp.org/en/data. Accessed March 29, 2015.⁶⁷

Abbreviation: HDI, human development index.

Figure 1 Distribution and LULC in biodiversity hotspots.

Notes: (A) Global biodiversity hotspot distribution; (B) Distribution of natural areas in Madagascar as in 2009; (C) land use and land cover in Western Ghats and Sri Lanka in 2009; and (D) land use and land cover in Atlantic Forest in 2009.
Abbreviation: LULC, land use and land cover.

Figure 2 Top-down approach for global biodiversity hotspots monitoring and prioritization.

Notes: (A) global LULC (Globcover) 2009 overlayed with hotspot boundaries; (B) LULC in Western Ghats in 2009; (C) LULC in Western Ghats in 2005; (D) forest fragmentation in Western Ghats 2005; (E) forest fragmentation in Goa, Western Ghats in 2005; and (F) hotspots of LULC change in Goa, Western Ghats in 2005.
Abbreviation: LULC, land use and land cover.