Q.What are biodiversity hotspots? Give examples.

[!TLDR] Biodiversity hotspots are regions with exceptionally high, largely endemic species richness combined with a high rate of habitat loss. …

[!ANSWER] Biodiversity hotspots are conservation-priority regions defined by two combined criteria: exceptional, largely endemic species richness, and a high rate of habitat loss.

A region qualifies as a biodiversity hotspot when it satisfies two conditions together. First, it must hold an exceptionally high level of species richness, with a significant proportion of those species being endemic — meaning they are found nowhere else on Earth, so their loss from that one region would mean global extinction, not just local disappearance. Second, the region must be facing an alarmingly high rate of habitat destruction or degradation, putting this concentrated, irreplaceable biodiversity under immediate threat. …

• Defining a hotspot only as "a place with lots of species" and omitting the two-part criterion (endemism + threat/habitat loss). …