Q.Define endemism.

Step 1. The chapter treats endemism as a core indicator of biodiversity richness, stating 'Endemism is a crucial indicator of richness' within its discussion of biodiversity's importance as an indicator of ecosystem health.

Step 2. Endemic species are those confined to a particular geographic area — this can be as large as a continent or as small as a single island or mountain range — and are not found naturally occurring anywhere else in the world.

Step 3. The chapter's own examples of endemic Indian species illustrate this precisely: the grizzled squirrel and lion-tailed macaque are named as endemic to the Western Ghats, and the wild ass is named as endemic to the Indian Desert region — each found nowhere else on Earth in the wild. …

Define endemism from the chapter's 'crucial indicator of richness' framing and reinforce it with the c …

• Confusing endemic (native and restricted to one region) with merely 'native' or 'indigenous' (which need not imply restriction to one region). …