This document discusses biodiversity hotspots in India. It notes that India contains a significant amount of the world's biodiversity, with high percentages of the world's mammal, bird, amphibian, reptile, fish, and flowering plant species having native ranges within India. Several regions in India qualify as biodiversity hotspots due to their large numbers of endemic species and habitat loss, including the Western Ghats, Nilgiris, Anaimalai, Darjeeling hills, and the Andaman Islands. The Western Ghats hotspot contains over 39 protected areas and is considered one of the most biologically diverse regions in the world.

1. STUDY OF BIODIVERSITY-HOT SPOTS
OF INDIA

2. • A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeography region with a
significant reservoir of biodiversity that is under threat
from humans. To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot on
Myers 2000 edition of the hotspot-map, a region must
meet two strict criteria:
It must contain at least 0.5% or 1,500 species of
vascular plants as endemics, and it has to have lost at
least 70% of its primary vegetation.
Around the world, at least 35 areas qualify under this
definition. These sites support nearly 60% of the
world's plant, bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian
species, with a very high share of endemic species.

3. SPECIES HAVING NATIVE RANGES IN INDIA
GROUP NUMBER % OF WORLD
SPECIES
MAMMALS 350 7.6%
BIRDS 1224 12.6%
AMPHIBIANS 197 4.4%
REPTILES 408 6.2%
FISHES 2546 11.7%
FLOWERING
PLANTS
15000 6%

4. HOTSPOTS IN INDIA

5. WESTERN GHATS
• IT IS ONE OF THE MAJOR
HOTSPOTS OF BIOLOGICAL
DIVERSITY IN THE WORLD.
• IT IS SOMETIMES CALLED
THE GREAT ESCARPMENT
OF INDIA.
• HAS A TOTAL OF 39
PROPERTIES INCLUDING
NATIONAL PARKS
,WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES.
ETC.

6. NILGIRIS
• CONTAINS OVER 2700
SPECIES OF FLOWERING
PLANTS.
• 160 SPECIES OF FERN AND
FERN ALLIES.
• COUNTLESS TYPES OF
FUNGI,ALGEA ETC.
• NO OTHER HILL STATION
HAS THESE MANY EXOTIC
SPECIES.
• THERE IS ONE LARGE AND
SEVERAL SMALL HYDRO-ELECTRIC
IMPOUNDMENTS

7. ANAIMALAI

8. DARJEELING
• Darjeeling is a part of the Eastern Himalayan zoo-geographic zone. Flora around
Darjeeling comprises sal, oak, semi-evergreen, forests. Dense evergreen forests of sal and
oak lie around the town, where a wide variety of rare orchids are found. IT CONTANS and
rare species of plants. The Park specializes in conserving and breeding endangered
Himalayan species.
• Wildlife in the district is protected by the wildlife wing of the West Bengal Forest
Department. The fauna found in Darjeeling includes several species of ducks, teals, plovers
and gulls that pass Darjeeling while migrating to and from Tibet. Small mammals found in
the region include civets, mongooses and badgers. The nearby Jaldapara National Park
consists of semi-evergreen and sal forests. Animals found here include the one-horned
rhinoceros, elephant, tiger, leopard and hog deer, while the main bird species include the
Bengal florican and herons. As of 2009, work was in progress for setting up a conservation
centre for red pandas in Darjeeling.

9. ANDAMAN
• The Andaman islands are home to
a number of animals, many of
them endemic.
• Middle Andaman holds a
population of feral elephants,
which were brought in for forest
work by a timber company and
released when the company went
bankrupt.
• The banded pig , also known as the
Andaman wild boar and once
thought to be an endemic sub-species
protected by the Wildlife
Protection Act of 1957.