Biodiversity hotspots are one conservation strategy used to direct funds to areas in the globe that have the highest biodiversity and are most threatened. To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot an area must have more than 1,500 endemic plant species (0.5% of the world's total of 300,000) AND have experienced a 70% loss of habitat.
1) Each person will select a biodiversity hotspot and use the Conservation Internationl Biodiversity Hotspots website as a key starting resource to find the following information to bring into class to write on the board and share orally.
a) Overview: Vital Signs Table: Total Endemic Plants, Human Population Density.
b) Species: Diversity and Endemism Table: Total Endemic Species for Plants, Mammals, Birds, Reptile, Amphibian and Fish.
c) Threats: List top three threats with evidence of why and how they impact the hotspot
d) Projects: What will take you the most time to find and evaluate is specific information about conservation actions in the hotspot region. You will want to include who (government, nonprofit, international agency) is doing what (fence, antipoaching squad, protected area, farming project) at what cost (dollars) with what measure of success (#species saved over time, increase population size over time, area protected increased, % invasives reduced) and then analyze if this is what is needed based on the human impact and biodiversity loss data you have collected.