Know the Biodiversity Hotspots?

Specifically, according to Conservation International, a biodiversity hotspot is defined by the following two criteria: It must have at least 1,500 species of endemic vascular plants and it must have lost at least 70 percent of its original area.

More: 'Conservation Map': The Silver Bullet Needed to Save Endangered Species?

Though endemic can have broader meanings in different contexts, when used referring to animal and plant species here it means that the species is found here and nowhere else in the world.

Climate Change Could Extinguish Two-Thirds of California's Plant Species

As currently classified, there are 34 biodiversity hotspots in the world. In total, these places covered about 16 percent of Earth's surface, though today so much of the original habitat extent has been destroyed that today only 2.3 percent of the planet's land surface is considered a biodiversity hotspot.

Green Glossary: Habitat Fragmentation

In sheer number of endemic animal and plant species, Madagascar and the islands (relatively) near it in the Indian Ocean top the list with 477. That's 310 plants and 167 vertebrates. The Tropical Andes come in second with 412; the Caribbean Islands comes in third with 270. Sundaland has 206.

More: More Than 2000 New Frogs Discovered in Madagascar: Amphibian Species Doubled

You probably know where the Horn of Africa is (Somalia, parts of Ethiopia, etc), but the Succulent Karoo region is on the other side of the continent in South Africa and Namibia. It has (appropriately enough) the highest concentration of succulent plants on the planet; furthermore, 69 percent of all its plant species are found there and nowhere else. The Horn of Africa earns the not so glorious distinction of being one of the most degraded hotspots in the world; only 5 percent of its original area remains.

More: More on Toxic Waste Dumping & Illegal Fishing Helping Get Is Into a Piracy Mess in Somalia

The first is the name given to what most people refer to just as California, where the largest living organism is found: the giant sequoia. The second is fairly self-explanatory. The third covers Mexico's mountain ranges as well as isolated mountaintops in Baja California and the southern United States; 20 percent of its original extent remains.

More: Welcome Back: Two Species Thought Extinct

Madagascar's isolation stems back some 160 million years. Humans didn't arrive until 2,000 years ago. The variety of habitat is pronounced. All of it adds up to high levels of endemic species and biodiversity. That 89 percent figure is dragged down somewhat by bird and freshwater fish species having relatively lower percentages. In fact 93 percent of mammal species, 95 percent of reptile species and 99.6 percent of amphibian species are endemic.

More: Illegal Logging, Looting and Civil Strife Close Madagascar National Park, Rare Lemurs at Risk

Wallacea comprises some 338,000 square kilometers of islands in central Indonesia--east of Java, Borneo and Bali and west of New Guinea; it extends south to East Timor. It is home to the world's largest lizard, the Komodo Dragon, and about 46 percent of its reptile species are endemic. It has the third highest level of endemic mammal species in the world--only Madagascar and Sundaland (the rest of Indonesia...) have more.

More: Komodo Dragon News Roundup

One type of walnut-fruit forest in the western Pamir-Alai and Tien Shan mountains contains the ancestors of domesticated walnut, almond, pear, plum and cherry trees. In the past 50 years, 90 percent of this habitat has been lost.

More: Wild Progenitors of Domestic Fruit & Nut Trees in Central Asia Threatened with Extinction

Introduced the control snake populations, the Indian grey mongoose and the Javan mongoose now have expanded their quarry to native birds and small mammals.

More: International Group Proposes Measures to Stop Invasive Species