Biodiversity and its conservation are among the main global topics in science and politics and perhaps the major challenge for the present and coming generations. This book written by international experts from different disciplines comprises general chapters on diversity and its measurement, human impacts on biodiversity hotspots on a global scale, human diversity itself and various geographic regions exhibiting high levels of diversity. The areas covered range from genetics and taxonomy to evolutionary biology, biogeography and the social sciences. In addition to the classic hotspots in the tropics, the book also highlights various other ecosystems harbouring unique species communities including coral reefs and the Southern Ocean. The approach taken considers, but is not limited to, the original hotspot definition sensu stricto and presents a chapter introducing the 35th hotspot, the forests of East Australia. While, due to a bias in data availability, the majority of contributions on particular taxa deal with vertebrates and plants, some also deal with the less-studied invertebrates. This book will be essential reading for anyone involved with biodiversity, particularly researchers and practitioners in the fields of conservation biology, ecology and evolution.

Global Biodiversity Conservation: The Critical Role of Hotspots

Tough Choices - Approaches towards the Setting of Global Conservation Priorities
Quantifying Biodiversity - Does It Matter What We Measure?- Human Population and the Hotspots Revisited: a 2010 assessment
Plant Diversity in a Changing World: Global Centres and Biome-Specific Trends
Genetic Basis of Human Biodiversity: an Update
Mediterranean Peninsulas - The Evolution of Hotspots
Global Change Effects on Alpine Plant Diversity
European Hotspots as Evidenced by the Palaearctic Distribution of Songbirds
Patterns and Hotspots of Carabid Beetle Diversity in the Palaearctic - Insights from a Hyperdiverse Invertebrate Taxon
A Neglected Diversity Hotspot: Genetic Variation in the Carpathians
Conservation in a Biodiversity Hotspot: Insights from Cultural and Community Perspectives in Madagascar
The Kingdom of the Frogs - Anuran Radiations in Madagascar
Hotspots, Conservation and Diseases: Madagascar's megadiverse amphibians and the potential impact of chytridiomycosis
Impacts of Biofuel Expansion in Biodiversity Hotspots
Forests of East Australia: The 35th Biodiversity Hotspot
Status and Threats in the Dynamic Landscapes of Northern Australia's Tropical Rainforest Biodiversity Hotspot: the Wet Tropics
Explosive Speciation and Adaptive Radiation of East African Cichlid Fishes
Inter- and Intraspecific Biodiversity in Southeast Asian Rodents: New Insights for their Conservation
The Amphibians and Reptiles of Sulawesi: Underestimated Diversity in a Dynamic Environment
The Brazilian Atlantic Forest: A Shrinking Biodiversity Hotspot
Sustainable Development and Conservation of Biodiversity Hotspots in Latin America: The Case of Ecuador
When Hotspots Meet: The Galápagos Islands - A Hotspot of Species Endemism Based on a Volcanic Hotspot Centre
Hotspots on Global Coral Reefs
Biodiversity of a Unique Environment: the Southern OceanBenthos Shaped and Threatened by Climate Change
Biodiversity Hotspots - Concluding Remarks and Perspectives.