Question.
Give a detailed description of hot spots in India. ( UPPSC, 2020, 15 Marks)
Answer.
According to International Conventional, there are two criteria for a region to become a biodiversity hot spot; These are:
- There should be 1500 species of endemic plants or more than 0.5% of the total plant species in the area.
- At least 70% of the vegetation of the total original area of the area has been destroyed.
Currently, there are 36 biodiversity hot spots in the world, and 4 out of 36 are partially located in India.
Following are the 4 biodiversity hotspots of India:
- Himalaya
- Indo Burma Region
- Western Ghats
- Sunda land
Apart from these 4, there are two more that meet the criteria to be among the hot spots in India, and they are:
- Terai-Dwar Savanna [Indo-Brahmaputra Plain]
- Sunderbans [Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta]
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| Biodiversity hot spots of India |
Himalaya:
Area:
- Himalayan region of Pakistan, India, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar.
Features:
- Himalaya is the home of many large birds such as vultures, and mammals such as tigers, rhinoceros
Indo Burma Region
Areas
- North East India except Assam
- Andaman Islands
- Myanmar
- Thailand,
- Laos,
- Vietnam,
- Cambodia
Features:
- It is home to many species of freshwater turtles
Western Ghats:
Area:
- The entire Western Ghats from Gujarat to Tamil Nadu
- Sri Lanka.
Features:
- The region is home to a large number of plant varieties.
- lion-tailed macaque
- Asian elephant
Sunda land
Area:
- Nicobar group of islands
- Indonesia
- Malaysia
- Brunei
- Philippines
Features:
- The world's largest flower, Rafflesia is found in the Sunda Land.
- Huge reduction in area due to the cultivation of plantations like palm oil.
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