—which harbor 75 percent of the
planet's endangered land vertebrates—
are in more trouble than expected,
according to a sobering new analysis of
remaining primary vegetation. In all
less than 15 percent of natural intact
vegetation is left in the these hotspots,
which include well-known wildlife
jewels such as Madagascar, the tropical
Andes, and Sundaland (Borneo, Java,
Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula).
Worse yet, nearly half of the
biodiversity hotspots have less than 10
percent primary vegetation left with
five of these containing less than five
percent.
"If we lose the hotspots we'll say
goodbye to over half of all species on
Earth. It would be comparable to the
mass-extinction event that killed off the
dinosaurs," said William Laurance, a
co-author of the study in Biological
Conservation with James Cook
University.
The world's biodiversity hotspots were
first identified in a seminal paper in
2000. At the time, scientists listed ten
hotspots; since then, the number has
grown to 35. But biodiversity hotspots
are more than just regions of high
biodiversity, they must also have lost
most of their vegetation, around 70
percent. Currently, the 35 hotspots
house 77 percent of the known
mammals, birds, and herps
(amphibians and reptiles); about half
of the world's plant species; and over
40 percent of the world's endemic
terrestrial vertebrates. These hotspots
include well-knonwn places like the
Himalayas and the Caribbean, but also
lesser-known regions like the cerrado
in Brazil, Irano-Anatolian in the
Middle East and West Asia, and the
Succulent Karoo in South Africa and
Namibia.
"We are in a global battle for
conservation, but unlike a battlefield
medic, we cannot simply focus on those
hotspots that are most likely to
survive," said lead author Sean Sloan
also with James Cook University.
"Every hotspot has unique biodiversity,
so to lose even one would be
catastrophic."
Although a few other studies in the past
have attempted to measure primary
vegetation in biodiversity hotspots, this
one far surpasses them in accuracy.
"We've applied a much more
standardized and, we hope, rigorous
approach, by using cutting-edge
satellite imagery and a standardized set
of criteria to define natural-intact
vegetation," Laurance told
mongabay.com
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