Author Description

"Biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate due to anthropogenic activities around the world. This book is the first volume in the new series Biodiversity Hotspots of the World, which will highlight the 36 hotspot regions of the world, regions that were designated as reaping maximum benefit from preservation efforts. This series is our humble attempt to document these hotspots as a conservation and preservation measure. The concise volumes in this series focus on the most interesting and important properties of these hotspots, covering physiography and climatology, vegetation and forest types, amphibian and reptile biodiversity, genetic diversity of crops and plants, fishes, butterflies and insects, birds, mammals, angiosperms and gymnosperms, and much more. And of course, the unique threats and conservation efforts for the area are addressed as well. This first volume focuses on the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, construed as forming a community of species because of their shared biogeographical history. The Western Ghats and Sri Lanka Hotspot is extraordinarily rich in species, especially plants that are found nowhere else. However, its forests face tremendous population pressure and have been dramatically impacted by demands for timber and agricultural land. The Western Ghats and Sri Lanka hotspot are rich with over 5,000 flowering plants, 139 mammals, 508 birds, and 179 amphibian species. And over 300 of these species are globally threatened. These volumes will be essential resources for researchers and practitioners in the fields of conservation biology, ecology, and evolution as the series concisely records the existing biodiversity of these biodiversity hotspots of the world"--