SCIENCE

SCIENCESTUDY OF BIODIVERSITY-HOT SPOTS OF INDIA HARI OM

WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT?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.

SPECIES HAVING NATIVE RANGES IN INDIAGROUPNUMBER% OF WORLD SPECIESMAMMALS3507.6%BIRDS122412.6%AMPHIBIANS1974.4%REPTILES4086.2%FISHES 254611.7%FLOWERING PLANTS150006%

MANY INDIAN SPECIES ARE DESENDANTS OF TAXA ORIGINATING IN GONDWANA, TO WHICH INDIA ORIGINALLY BELONGED. PENINSULAR INDIAS SUBSEQUENT MOVEMENT TOWARDS AND COLLISION WITH, LAURASIAN LANDMASS SET OFF A MASS EXCHANGE OF SPECIES. HOWEVER VOLCANISM AND CLIMATIC CHANGE 20 MILLION YEARS AGO CAUSED THE EXTINCTION OF MANY ENDEMIC INDIAN FORMS. SOON THEREAFER MAMMALS ENTERED INDIA FROM ASIA THROUGH TWO PASSES ON EITHER SIDE OF EMERGING HIMALAYAS. THE RESULT IS GIVEN IN THE TABLE.

HOTSPOTS IN INDIA

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.WESTERN GHATS

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

NILGIRIS

ANAIMALAI

South of the Palghat Gap are the Anaimalai Hills, located in western Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Smaller ranges are further south, including the Cardamom Hills.Anamudi and the Eravikulan National Park surrounding it is home to the largest surviving population of the Nilgiri Tahr, Asian Elephants, Gaur, Bengal tigers, and the Nilgiri Marten are some of the species of animals found here .The Anamudi peak area is also habitat of an unique frog Raorchestes resplendens. This newly discovered species is located in the Eravikulam National Park and is restricted to less than three sq. km on the summit of Anamudi.

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.

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.ANDAMAN 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.