biodiversity hotspot

From biodiversity +‎ hotspot. The word hotspot to describe such regions appears to have been first used by the British environmentalist Norman Myers (1934–2019) in a 1988 article in The Environmentalist.^[1]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌbaɪə(ʊ)daɪˌvɜːsɪti ˈhɒtˌspɒt/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌbaɪoʊdəˌvɚsəti ˈhɑtˌspɑt/, [-ɾi]

• Audio (US):

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• Hyphenation: bi‧o‧di‧vers‧i‧ty hot‧spot

biodiversity hotspot (plural biodiversity hotspots)

1. (ecology) A place with a significant level of biodiversity, particularly if the flora and fauna are threatened with loss of their habitat.

   Synonyms: hot spot, hotspot

   • 2000 February 24, Norman Myers, Russell A[lan] Mittermeier, Cristina G[oettsch] Mittermeier, Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca, Jennifer Kent, “Biodiversity Hotspots for Conservation Priorities”, in Nature, volume 403, number 6772, London: Nature Research, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, abstract, page 853:

     Conservationists are far from able to assist all species under threat, if only for lack of funding. This places a premium on priorities: how can we support the most species at the least cost? One way is to identify ‘biodiversity hotspots’ where exceptional concentrations of endemic species are undergoing exceptional loss of habitat.

• In the writings of Norman Myers and his collaborators, a biodiversity hotspot is defined as a region that contains at least 1,500 endemic species of vascular plants (more than 0.5% of the world’s total), and which has lost at least 70% of its primary vegetation.^[2]

• biodiversity hotspot on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “biodiversity hotspot” under “hot spot, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2022.