Abstract
The Earth biodiversity is threatened by human activities yet the sustainable use of biodiversity is fundamental to the future development of humanity. Because financial and human resources are limited for nature conservation, it is appropriate to focus efforts on the richest and most threatened reservoirs of biodiversity. About 25 such biodiversity hotspots have been recently proposed based on available data on plant and vertebrate species richness, endemism and threat status. While there is a wide consensus on the choice and geographic delimitation of hotspots, the dynamics of biodiversity in these hotspots and the ecological impacts of predicted biodiversity loss are still poorly understood. In collaboration with partners in FP6-third countries, the Europe a HOTSPOTS consortium will work towards increasing the knowledge and understanding of biodiversity hotspots, including the Mediterranean basin and some European overseas territories. Applying field, molecular and bioinformatics approaches to flagship plants and animals, HOTSPOTS will train a new generation of multidisciplinary biologists in state-of-the-art methods of evolution, ecology and conservation.
Europe