Endemic species
Topic: Biodiversity and its Conservation · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 14 "Biodiversity and Conservation"
Meaning
An endemic species is one found naturally in only one place and nowhere else on Earth. Endemics usually develop where a region has long been cut off, as on islands or isolated mountain ranges. Their whole world population lives in one small area. So losing that habitat can wipe them out completely. Places with many endemic species and heavy habitat loss are called biodiversity hotspots.
Example
The Nilgiri tahr (a mountain goat), the lion-tailed macaque and the tree Humboldtia decurrens are endemic to the Western Ghats. Outside India, about 85% of Madagascar's plants and animals, such as its lemurs, live nowhere else.
Don't confuse with
- Exotic species: brought by people into a place where it does not occur naturally. An endemic species is native to only one place.
Related concepts
- Biodiversity
- Species
- Genetic diversity
- Species diversity
- Ecosystem diversity
- Latitudinal diversity gradient
- Importance of biodiversity
- Ecosystem services
- Agro-biodiversity