Question

The concept of the hotspot was first introduced by:
A. Mayer
B. Simpson
C. Myers
D. David

Answer 1

Hint: He was a British ecologist.

Complete answer: Norman Myers was a British ecologist who published a seminal paper in 1988 identifying 10 tropical forest “hotspots”. They are large areas of forests that contain exceptional concentrations of plant endemism and that are experiencing very high rates of habitat loss.
1. Hotspots are home to endemic plants and animals. Endemism means that the organism is present nowhere else on earth and is limited to that specific niche.
2. Endemic animals/ plants are the most susceptible to endangerment and extinction.
These are also known as biodiversity hotspots. It currently accounts for 2.3% of the Earth's land surface. 3. Currently, there are 36 biodiversity hotspots existing in the world.
For an area to be recognized as a hotspot, it must meet the following two strict criteria.
4. It must contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants found nowhere else on Earth (endemic species) and at least 70 percent of its primary native/ endemic vegetation.

India hosts 4 biodiversity hotspots:
1. The Himalayas.
2. The Western Ghats.
3. The Indo-Burma region.
4. The Sundaland (Includes the Nicobar group of Islands).

So, the correct answer is “Option A”.

Note: 1. In the western ghats, there are more than 6000 vascular plants belonging to more than 2500 genus. 3000 plants out of these are endemic. The region is also home to around 450 species of birds, 140 mammals, 260 reptiles, and 175 amphibians.
2. The Himalayan hotspot is a region comprising Bhutan, Northeast India, and Southern, Central, and Eastern Nepal. It has some of the tallest peaks in the world. There are about 163 endangered species in this region including one-horned rhinoceros, wild Asian water buffalo, and 45 mammals, 50 birds, 12 amphibians, 17 reptiles, 3 invertebrate, and 36 plant species.