title: Global hotspots of species richness are not congruent with endemism or threat.
abstract: Biodiversity hotspots have a prominent role in conservation biology, but it remains controversial to what extent different types of hotspot are congruent. Previous studies were unable to provide a general answer because they used a single biodiversity index, were geographically restricted, compared areas of unequal size or did not quantitatively compare hotspot types. Here we use a new global database on the breeding distribution of all known extant bird species to test for congruence across three types of hotspot. We demonstrate that hotspots of species richness, threat and endemism do not show the same geographical distribution. Only 2.5% of hotspot areas are common to all three aspects of diversity, with over 80% of hotspots being idiosyncratic. More generally, there is a surprisingly low overall congruence of biodiversity indices, with any one index explaining less than 24% of variation in the other indices. These results suggest that, even within a single taxonomic class, different mechanisms are responsible for the origin and maintenance of different aspects of diversity. Consequently, the different types of hotspots also vary greatly in their utility as conservation tools.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology and.
authors.forename: C David L
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Orme
authors.forename: Richard G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Malcolm
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burgess
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Eigenbrod
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pickup
authors.forename: Valerie A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.forename: Andrea J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.forename: Tzung-Su
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Pamela C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Ridgely
authors.forename: Ali J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Stattersfield
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: Tim M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Blackburn
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Gaston
authors.forename: Ian P F
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Owens
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D001717:Birds / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005843:Geography; D011156:Population Density; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology