Hotspots
Hotspots, a key word in ecology today, when one is speaking about the areas of biological emergency in the world. This is also indicated by the other term for these areas: KBA, that is Key Biodiversity Areas. Key spots, it is worth noting, not only for the survival of biological variety, but the very destiny of man.
It was the ecologist Norman Myers who defined, back in 1988, a strategy to protect biodiversity based on the concept of biodiversity hotspots: i.e. the critical points where one must concentrate maximum efforts in ecological conservation. What are the prerequisites to gain a place within this definition? A hotspot must contain a high number of endemic species and, something that not everyone knows, have already suffered heavy destruction of the original habitat. Myers created a list of 25 hotspots that could include at least 0.5% of endemic vascular plants, regardless of the fact that they had already lost 70% of the original plant cover.
Myers’ classification meant the optimising of efforts made to protect biodiversity: so much so that the 25 chosen areas, although representing 1.4% of the visible earth, constitute the last remaining habitat of 44% of vascular plant species and 35% of known vertebrates.
In the last few years the list of hotspots has risen to 34, which is not a good sign: among the latest places to gain one are Japan, the Horn of Africa and Eastern Melanesia.
(12/06/2007)
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