Western Ghats and Sri Lanka hotspot
Topic: Biodiversity and its Conservation · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 14 "Biodiversity and Conservation"
Meaning
The Western Ghats and Sri Lanka hotspot is one of four biodiversity hotspots that reach India. The others are the Himalaya, Indo-Burma and Sundaland. Its Indian part is the Western Ghats mountain chain along the western coast. Heavy rain and old, isolated forests have produced many endemic amphibians, reptiles and plants (species found nowhere else). It counts as a hotspot because it is also under severe threat. The Western Ghats became a World Heritage Site in 2012. The Gadgil (2011) and Kasturirangan (2013) reports on protecting it are still debated.
Example
The Nilgiri tahr, the lion-tailed macaque and the tree Humboldtia decurrens of the southern Western Ghats are endemic to this hotspot.
Don't confuse with
- Sundaland hotspot: it reaches India only through the Nicobar Islands, not the mainland.