Consider the following statements:
- Biodiversity hotspots are located only in tropical regions.
- India has four biodiversity hotspots, i.e. Eastern Himalayas, Western Himalayas, Western Ghats and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Explanation
Statement 1 is incorrect
- Biodiversity hotspots are not restricted only to tropical regions. Some hotspots exist in Mediterranean and temperate regions.
- Mediterranean Basin: The largest of the world’s five Mediterranean-climate regions, covering over 2 million square kilometres from Portugal to Jordan. It supports approximately 25,000 plant species, of which nearly 60% are endemic.
- Chilean Winter Rainfall-Valdivian Forests: This hotspot in South America is a rare example of a temperate rainforest ecosystem with high levels of endemism
- Southwest Australia: One of the oldest hotspots globally, it features specialised eucalyptus woodlands and kwongan heathlands.
Statement 2 is correct
- India is part of four global biodiversity hotspots, namely the Himalayas, Indo-Burma region, which includes parts of the Eastern Himalayas, Western Ghats & Sri Lanka hotspot and Sundaland, which includes the Nicobar Islands.
- Himalaya: Includes the entire Indian Himalayan region (and that falling in Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Myanmar).
- Indo-Burma: Includes entire North-eastern India, except Assam and Andaman group of Islands (and Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and southern China)
- Western Ghats and Sri Lanka: Includes entire Western Ghats (and Sri Lanka).
- Sundalands: Includes Nicobar group of Islands (and Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines).
