The world's biodoversity hotspots

I like maps. Here's a nice map, courtesy of Conservation International, which shows how the world's biodiversity hotspots, making up just 2.4% of the earth's landmass, supports about 50% of the world's plant species and 42% of all known vertibrate species. 

In terms of threatened wildlife, these relatively small areas areeven more important, providing a home to 79% of threatened amphibians, 63% of threatened birds, and 60% of threatened mammals.

There are a few (to me) unexpected areas within these special places, including the Mediterranean, the mountains of Russia, the Horn of Africa, and the Caribbean.

The other thing a map like this brings home: all the conservation work we do here in Canada is going to have little or no impact on world biodiversity. But, hey, we do what we can in our own 'hood.