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Endemic (ecology)
 
 
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Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a particular geographic location, such as a specific island, habitat
Habitat (ecology)

A habitat is an ecological or Natural_environment area that is inhabited by a particular animal or plant species. It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds a species population....
 type, nation, or other defined zone. Physical, climatic and biological factors can contribute to endemism. For example, the Orange-breasted Sunbird
Orange-breasted Sunbird

The Orange-breasted Sunbird, Anthobaphes violacea, is the only member of the bird genus Anthobaphes although it is sometimes placed in the genus Nectarinia....
 is endemic to Fynbos
Fynbos

Fynbos is the natural shrubland or Heath vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate....
, meaning it is exclusively found in the Fynbos vegetation type of southwestern South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
.

There are two subcategories of endemism - paleoendemism and neoendemism.






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Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a particular geographic location, such as a specific island, habitat
Habitat (ecology)

A habitat is an ecological or Natural_environment area that is inhabited by a particular animal or plant species. It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds a species population....
 type, nation, or other defined zone. Physical, climatic and biological factors can contribute to endemism. For example, the Orange-breasted Sunbird
Orange-breasted Sunbird

The Orange-breasted Sunbird, Anthobaphes violacea, is the only member of the bird genus Anthobaphes although it is sometimes placed in the genus Nectarinia....
 is endemic to Fynbos
Fynbos

Fynbos is the natural shrubland or Heath vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate....
, meaning it is exclusively found in the Fynbos vegetation type of southwestern South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
.

There are two subcategories of endemism - paleoendemism and neoendemism. Paleoendemism refers to a species that was formerly widespread but is now restricted to a smaller area. Neoendemism refers to a species that has recently arisen such as a species that has diverged and become reproductively isolated, or one that has formed following hybridization and is now classified as a separate species. This is a common process in plants especially those which exhibit polyploidy
Polyploidy

Polyploidy occurs in biological cell and organisms when there are more than two Homologous Chromosomes sets of chromosomes.Polyploidy is a state different from most organisms which are normally diploid meaning they have only two sets of chromosomes - one set inherited from each parent; polyploidy may occur due to abnormal cell division....
.

An opposite notion is cosmopolitan distribution
Cosmopolitan distribution

In biogeography, a biological category of living things is said to have cosmopolitan distribution if this category can be found almost anywhere around the world....
.

Endemic types or species are especially likely to develop on islands because of their geographical isolation. This includes remote island groups, such as Hawaii
Endemism in the Hawaiian Islands

Located some 2,400 miles from the nearest continental shore, the Hawaiian Islands are the most isolated group of islands on the planet. The plant and animal life of the Hawaiian archipelago is the result of early, very infrequent colonizations of arriving species and the slow evolution of those species—in isolation from the rest of th...
, the Galápagos Islands
Galápagos Islands

Gal?pagos Islands are an archipelago of Island#Volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, 972 km west of continental Ecuador....
, and Socotra
Socotra

Socotra or Soqotra is a small archipelago of four islands and islets in the Indian Ocean off the coast of the Horn of Africa some south of the Arabian peninsula, belonging to the Yemen....
. Endemism can also occur in biologically isolated areas such as the highlands of Ethiopia
Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast....
, or large bodies of water like Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is in southern Siberia in Russia, located between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryatia to the southeast, near the city of Irkutsk....
.

Endemics can easily become endangered or extinct
Extinct species

This page features extinct species, organisms that have become Extinction.* List of extinct animals* List of extinct plants...
 because of their restricted habitat and vulnerability to the actions of man, including the introduction
Introduced species

A species is defined as introduced in a certain geographical area, if that area is outside the species' indigenous distributional range, and the species has arrived there by human activity....
 of new organisms. There were millions of both Bermuda Petrel
Bermuda Petrel

The Bermuda Petrel, Pterodroma cahow, is a gadfly petrel petrel.Commonly known in Bermuda as the Cahow, a name derived from its eerie cries, this nocturnal ground-nesting seabird is the national bird of Bermuda, and a symbol of hope for nature conservation....
s and "Bermuda cedars
Juniperus bermudiana

Juniperus bermudiana is a species of juniper endemic to Bermuda. In Bermuda and elsewhere this species is most commonly known as Bermuda cedar although it is not a true cedar ; a more botanically accurate name would be Bermuda Juniper, although this is not in popular use anywhere....
" (actually junipers) in Bermuda
Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, it is situated around 1770 kilometres northeast of Miami, Florida, and 1350 kilometres south of Halifax Regional Municipality, Canada....
 when it was settled at the start of the 17th century. By the end of the century, the petrels were thought to be extinct. Cedars, decimated by centuries of shipbuilding, were driven nearly to extinction in the 20th Century by the introduction of a parasite. Both petrels and cedars are very rare today, as are other species endemic or native to Bermuda.

Endemic organisms are not the same as indigenous organisms
Indigenous (ecology)

In biogeography, a species is defined as indigenous or native to a given region or ecosystem, if its presence in that region is the result of only natural resources, with no human intervention....
 — a species that is indigenous to somewhere may be native to other locations as well. An introduced species
Introduced species

A species is defined as introduced in a certain geographical area, if that area is outside the species' indigenous distributional range, and the species has arrived there by human activity....
, also known as a naturalized or exotic species, is an organism that is not indigenous to a given place or area.

Ecoregions with high endemism

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the following ecoregions have the highest percentage of endemic plants:

  • Fynbos
    Fynbos

    Fynbos is the natural shrubland or Heath vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate....
     (South Africa
    South Africa

    The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
    )
  • Hawaiian tropical dry forests
    Hawaiian tropical dry forests

    The Hawaiian tropical dry forests are a Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregion in the Hawaiian Islands. They cover an area of on the Windward and leeward side of the main islands and the summits of the smaller islands....
     (United States
    United States

    The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
    )
  • Hawaiian tropical moist forests (United States
    United States

    The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
    )
  • Kwongan heathlands
    Kwongan

    The Kwongan heath form an ecoregion confined to Southwest Australia. Kwongan is found on coastal plains from Cape Naturaliste to Perth, Western Australia, though large areas have been cleared....
     (Australia
    Australia

    Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
    )
  • Madagascar dry deciduous forests
    Madagascar dry deciduous forests

    The Madagascar dry deciduous forests represent a tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregion generally situated in the western part of Madagascar....
     (Madagascar
    Madagascar

    Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
    )
  • Madagascar lowland forests
    Madagascar lowland forests

    The Madagascar lowland forests are a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion, found on the eastern coast of the island of Madagascar....
     (Madagascar
    Madagascar

    Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
    )
  • New Caledonia dry forests (New Caledonia
    New Caledonia

    New Caledonia , is a "sui generis collectivity" of France located in the subregion of Melanesia in the Oceania. It comprises a main island , the Loyalty Islands, and several smaller islands....
    )
  • New Caledonia rain forests
    New Caledonia rain forests

    The New Caledonia rain forests are a terrestrial ecoregion, located in New Caledonia in the Oceania. It is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion, part of the Australasia ecozone....
     (New Caledonia
    New Caledonia

    New Caledonia , is a "sui generis collectivity" of France located in the subregion of Melanesia in the Oceania. It comprises a main island , the Loyalty Islands, and several smaller islands....
    )
  • Sierra Madre de Oaxaca
    Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine-oak forests

    The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine-oak forests is an ecoregion of southern Mexico. It occupies the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca, which lies mostly within the state of Oaxaca, extending north into Puebla and Veracruz states....
     and Sierra Madre del Sur pine-oak forests (Mexico
    Mexico

    The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
    , Guatemala
    Guatemala

    Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize and the Caribbean to the northeast, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast....
    )
  • Greater Luzon, Mindanao, Palawan (Philippines
    Philippines

    The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
    )


Threats to highly endemistic regions


Some of the principal threats to these special ecosystems are:

  • Large scale logging
    Logging

    Logging is the process in which certain trees are cut down for forest management and timber....
     operations
  • Slash-and-burn techniques sometimes a part of shifting cultivation
    Shifting cultivation

    For methods, see slash and burnShifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned....
  • Destruction of habital or vegetation leads to endangering of the endemic species


See also

  • Biodiversity hotspot
    Biodiversity hotspot

    A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is threatened with destruction.The concept of biodiversity hotspots was originated by Dr....
  • Endemism in birds
    Endemism in birds

    This article is a parent page for a series of articles providing information about endemism among birds in the World's various zoogeographic zones.The term endemic, in the context of bird endemism, refers to any species found only in a specific area....
  • Endemic Maltese wildlife
    Endemic Maltese wildlife

    An endemism organism is said to be found only in certain areas of the world. This makes the organism in some cases endangered.The Maltese Islands, although small in area , host a very large number of endemic species, some of which are unique and unusual....
  • Floristic province
    Floristic province

    A Phytochorion, in phytogeography, is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species. Adjacent phtyochoria do not usually have a sharp boundary, but rather a soft one, a transitional area in which many species from both regions overlap....
  • Refugium