What are biodiversity hotspots and where are they concentrated?
Biodiversity hotspots are areas that have large numbers of species and/or have many species that are not found anywhere else (endemic species). Conservation efforts in hotspots can protect or restore a relatively large part of the total biodiversity worldwide. Most biologists recognize about 25 global biodiversity hotspots that have many species as well as many endemic species. Most hotspots are in tropical regions, including the Amazon Basin, Central America, the Caribbean Islands, Western Africa, Madagascar, Western India and Southeast Asia. Many of these regions are hotspots because they have species-rich rainforests and coral reefs. However, there are also non-tropical biodiversity hotspots, including Central Chile, the Mediterranean Basin, South Africa, Eastern Europe, Central China, Western Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Coast of the United States. Other hotspots in the U.S. include the southeastern region, California, and Hawaii.
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