 The term 'hotspot' is used to describe areas featuring exceptional concentrations of endemic species and facing high potential of habitat degradation.The 25 most significant hotspots contain the habitats of 133,149 plant species (44% of all plant species worldwide; table 1) and 9,645 vertebrate species (35% of all vertebrate worldwide; table 2).These endemics are confined to an expanse of 2.1 million square kilometers (1.4% of land surface).