Biodiversity hotspot

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/biodiversity-hotspot

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the number of recognized hotspots?36 globally recognized regions
2. What is the endemic vascular plant threshold?Minimum of 1,500 endemic vascular plant species per hotspot
3. How many species must live in a hotspot to be counted?A hotspot must have at least 1,500 kinds of plants that only grow there, which is more than half a percent of all plant species on Earth.
4. How many of the Earth's hotspots are there?There are 36 hotspots around the world, even though they cover only about 2.4% of the land on Earth.

Biogeographic Region: An area characterized by its unique assemblage of flora and fauna, shaped by geographical and historical factors.
Vascular Plants: Plants possessing specialized tissues (xylem and phloem) for the transport of water, minerals, and nutrients.
Primary Vegetation: The original, undisturbed plant community of an area, representing its natural state before significant anthropogenic alteration.