Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities

Norman Myers (), Russell A. Mittermeier, Cristina G. Mittermeier, Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca and Jennifer Kent
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Norman Myers: Green College, Oxford University, Upper Meadow
Russell A. Mittermeier: Conservation International
Cristina G. Mittermeier: Conservation International
Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca: Centre for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International

Nature, 2000, vol. 403, issue 6772, 853-858

Abstract: Abstract Conservationists 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.

Date: 2000
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DOI: 10.1038/35002501

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