Hotspots Revisited : Earth's Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions

by Mittermeier, Russell A.

• ISBN13: 9789686397772
• ISBN10: 9686397779
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-07-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

For decades, Conservation International has devoted itself not only to saving endangered regions on the planet but also to chronicling, in lavish volumes, the biodiversity of these areas. These volumes, according to Choice, are"a superbly produced . . . source of hard-to-find information on biodiversity, biogreography, and conservation." Hotspots Revisited continues this rich tradition, drawing on the organization's continuing work to identify, research, and document biologically diverse yet dangerously threatened regions. The first Hotspots volume identified twenty-five endangered regions; Hotspots Revisited reveals an astonishing nine additional areas, from Melanesia to northern Mexico, that now meet the same criteria. Hotspots Revisited presents the most up-to-date analyses of the ecology of these endangered areasincluding new information on freshwater fish and other animal populations. But the heart of the volume is in the hundreds of vibrant color photographs of the animals and plants under threat. Magnificent in conception and flawless in execution, Hotspots Revisited is equally at home on a scientist's shelf or an ecotourist's coffee table.

Author Biography

Russell A. Mittermeier is president of Conservation International. Patricio Robles Gil is founder and president of Agrupaci�3n Sierra Madre and Unidos para la Conservaci�3n. Michael Hoffmann is a biologist, Thomas Brooks heads the Conservation Synthesis Department, and John Pilgrim is a biodiversity analyst, all with the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science at Conservation International. Cristina G. Mittermeier is a marine biologist and professional photographer at Conservation International. John Lamoreux is a doctoral candidate in Environmental Science at the University of Virginia. Gustavo A.B. da Fonseca is the Executive Vice President of Conservation International.

Excerpts

"As part of its commitment to global biodiversity conservation, CEMEX - one of the largest cement producers in the world - publishes Hotspots Revisited: Earth's Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions, the twelfth title in a collection devoted to these purposes, and the fifth in a series produced in collaboration with Conservation International and Agrupacion Sierra Madre. This book presents the results of a reanalysis of the biodiversity hotspots - those discrete, biogeographic regions that are known to hold at least 1,500 plants as endemics and that have lost at least 70% of their primary native vegetation. First conceived of by Myers (1988), and later comprehensively updated by Mittermeier et al. (1999) and Myers et al. (2000), the hotspots concept has probably been the most important and influential biodiversity priority-setting approach in conservation over the past 15 years." "Hotspots Revisited: Earth's Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions provides stronger evidence than ever before of the fundamental role that the hotspots play in global biodiversity conservation."--BOOK JACKET.