Vascular plant * Country Number Australia 15,638 Brazil 56,215 China 8,200 Colombia 32,200 Congo, Democratic Republic 11,007 Costa Rica 12,119 Ecuador 19,362 India 18,664 Indonesia 29,375 Madagascar 9,505 Mexico 26,071 Peru 17,144 Source: World Resources Institute, Earth Trends (Ref 5) * A vascular plant is one whose tissues conduct fluids Bird dependent on tropical forests Region Number Latin America 1,300 Africa 400 Asia 900 Total 2,600 Source: World Resources Institute (Ref 5)
Hotspots at a glance Area Original hotspot area (sq km) Hotspot area today (sq km) Protected area (sq km) Total plant Total terrestrial vertebrate Endemic bird under threat Endemic mammal under threat Endemic amphibians under threat Extinct since 1500* Atlantic Forest 123,387 99,944 50,370 20,000 1,509 55 21 14 1 Brazilian Cerrado 2,031,990 438,910 111,051 10,000 1,027 10 4 2 0 California Floristic Province Cape Floristic Region Caribbean Islands 293,804 73,451 108,715 3,488 566 4 21 8 2 78,555 15,711 10,859 9,000 514 0 1 7 1 229,549 22,955 29,605 13,000 1,195 48 18 143 38 Caucasus 532,658 143,818 42,721 6,400 595 0 2 2 0 Chilean Winter Rainfall Valdivian Forests Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa Guinean forests of West Africa 397,142 119,143 50,745 3,892 335 6 5 15 0 291,250 29,125 50,889 4,000 1,085 2 6 4 0 620,314 93,047 108,104 9,000 1,315 31 35 49 0 Indo-Burma 2,373,057 118,653 235,758 13,500 2,221 18 25 35 1 Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands Mediterranean Basin 600,461 60,046 18,482 13,000 849 57 51 61 45 2,085,292 98,009 90,242 22,500 945 9 11 14 5 Mesoamerica 1,130,019 226,004 142,103 17,000 2,245 31 29 232 7
Mountains of Southwest China 262,446 20,996 14,034 12,000 940 2 3 3 0 New Caledonia 18,972 5,122 4,192 3,270 184 7 3 0 1 New Zealand 270,197 59,443 74,260 2,300 242 63 3 4 23 Philippines 297,179 20,803 32,404 9,253 939 56 47 48 2 Polynesia and Micronesia Southwest Australia 47,239 10,015 2,436 5,330 372 90 8 1 43 356,717 107,015 38,379 5,571 521 3 6 3 2 Succulent Karoo 102,691 29,780 2,567 6,356 395 0 1 1 1 Sundaland 1,501,063 100,571 179,723 25,000 1,601 43 60 59 4 Tropical Andes 1,542,644 385,661 246,871 30,000 2,904 110 14 363 2 Tumbes-Chocó- Magdalena 274,597 65,903 34,338 11,000 1,502 21 7 8 4 Wallacea 338,494 50,774 24,387 10,000 1,091 49 44 7 3 Western Ghats and Sri Lanka 189,611 43,611 26,130 5,916 865 10 14 87 20 Source: Conservation International (Ref 6) * Endemic of terrestrial vertebrate
Mass extinctions Extinction period Late Cambrian (~500 million years ago) Late Ordovician (440 million years ago) Late Devonian (~365 million years ago) End Permian (245 million years ago) Cretaceous- Tertiary (K-T) (65 million years ago) Cause and effects Changing sea levels Glaciation (ice age) Global cooling 96 per cent of marine and 75 per cent of terrestrial vertebrate families became extinct during this, the largest, mass extinction, which was caused by fluctuations in sea level and ocean salinity resulting from climate change Famed for the extinction of the dinosaurs and widely thought to have been caused by a meteor impact Source: BBC Education (Ref 12)
Species extinct (or extinct in the wild) Extinct Extinct in wild Total Vertebrates Mammals 76 2 78 Birds 133 4 137 Reptiles 20 1 21 Amphibians 37 2 39 Fishes 90 13 103 Subtotal 356 22 378 Extinct Extinct in wild Total Invertebrates Insects 60 1 61 Crustaceans 7 1 8 Molluscs 295 14 309 Others 1 0 1 Subtotal 363 16 379 Extinct Extinct in wild Total Plants Mosses 2 0 2 Ferns 3 0 3 Gymnosperms 0 4 4 Dicots 77 22 99 Monocots 2 2 4
Subtotal 84 28 112 Grand total Extinct Extinct in wild Total 803 66 869 Source: Red List of Threatened Species 2009 (Ref 9)
Rate of extinctions in recent years Vertebrates described evaluated by 2010 in 1996 98 in 2007 in 2008 in 2009 in 2010 Number in 2010, as percentage of described Mammals 5,490 5,490 1,096 1,094 1,141 1,142 1,143 21% Birds 9,998 9,998 1,107 1,217 1,222 1,223 1,223 12% Reptiles 9,084 1,672 253 422 423 469 467 5% Amphibians 6,433 6,284 124 1,808 1,905 1,895 1,895 29% Fishes 31,300 4,446 734 1,201 1,275 1,414 1,414 5% Subtotal 62,305 27,890 3,314 5,742 5,966 6,143 6,142 10% Invertebrates Insects 1,000,000 2,886 537 623 626 711 740 0.06% Molluscs 850,000 2,305 920 978 978 1,036 1,037 1% Crustaceans 47,000 1,735 407 460 606 606 606 1% Others 173,250 955 27 48 286 286 286 30% Subtotal 1,305,250 7,881 1,891 1,928 1,932 1,959 1,992 34% Source: 2009 Red List of Threatened Species (Ref 9)
Area of agricultural land by region (1900 1980) in sq km 1961 2007 % change North America 5,175,730 4,789,970 +7.5 South America 4,409,030 5,801,850 +31.6 Europe 7,829,225 4,742,735-39.4 World 44,571,055 49,318,620 +10.7 Eastern Africa 2,839,540 3,025,553 +6.6 South Asia 3,088,590 3,101,290 +0.4 South-East Asia 842,210 1,176,602 +39.7 China 3,432,480 5,528,320 +61 Source: International Institute for Environment and Development/World Resources Institute (Ref 15) Plant used as food by humans Human use/classification Plant Total described 250,000 Edible 30,000 Cultivated 7,000 Important on national scale 120 Making up 90% of world's calories 30 Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization (Ref 18)