Biodiversity Hotspot of the Mediterranean Basin

This new volume focuses on the biodiversity of the Mediterranean Basin, a very heterogeneous area with an extremely complex geological history where, within a few kilometers, there is a gradient of microhabitats that goes from the coasts with a Mediterranean climate to high altitude mesophilic areas.

Stretching from the archipelago of Cabo Verde in the west to Jordan and Turkey in the east, the region is well known for its exceptional richness in biodiversity and its high rate of endemicity. The region flora diversity is significant, with 15,000 to 25,000 species, 60% of which are unique to the region. The anthropogenic activities of the region, however, which include deforestation, fragmentation of habitats, pollution, high population density (with nearly 500 million human inhabitants and another 250 million tourists visiting each year), climate change, and poaching of wildlife, pose serious threats to the biodiversity of the region. The Mediterranean Basin hosts over 1,300 threatened species (extinct in the wild, critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable), such as the dragonfly (Urothemis edwardsii), the dung beetle (Thorectes colon), the Rüppell Vulture (Gyps rueppelli), and the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus).

The volumes of Biodiversity Hotspots of the World book series are essential resources for researchers and professionals in the fields of conservation biology, ecology and evolution, concisely illustrating existing biodiversity in hotspots around the world.

T. Pullaiah, PhD, is a former Professor at the Department of Botany at Sri Krishnadevaraya University in Andhra Pradesh, India, where he has taught for more than 35 years. He has held several positions at the university, including Dean, Faculty of Biosciences; Head of the Department of Botany; Head of the Department of Biotechnology; and member of Academic Senate. He was President of the Indian Botanical Society (2014), President of the Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy (2013), and Fellow of Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences. He was awarded the Panchanan Maheshwari Gold Medal, the Prof. P. C. Trivedi Medal, the Dr. G. Panigrahi Memorial Lecture Award from the Indian Botanical Society; a Prof. Y. D. Tyagi Gold Medal from the Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy; and a Best Teacher Award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Under his guidance, over 50 students earned their doctoral degrees. He has authored 65 books, edited 45 books, and published over 340 research papers. He was a member of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Professor Pullaiah received his PhD from Andhra University, India, attended Moscow State University, Russia, and worked as Postdoctoral Fellow during 1976–1978.

Loris Galli, PhD, is a Senior Researcher and Professor of Zoology at the Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences of the University of Genoa, Italy, where he teaches Evolutionary Zoology and Population Biology. He is currently a National Counselor of the Italian Entomological Society (SEI) and member of Working Group 1 (Measurement, Assessment and Monitoring of Soil Biodiversity) of the FAO International Network on Soil Biodiversity (NETSOB). In addition, he is editor-in-chief of the Bulletin of Environmental and Life Sciences, assistant editor of the Bulletin of the Italian Entomological Society, and editor of Biogeographia: The Journal of Integrative Biogeography. His research initially focused on the monitoring, conservation, and management of avifauna, especially in relation to the effects of human activities such as hunting and the design of new structures (wind towers), but also in relation to the impact of some bird species on human activities (agricultural crops, urban hygiene, bird-strike risks in airport areas). However, for years now he has mainly dealt with soil arthropods and their importance as indicators of environmental quality (within the QBS-ar Index). In particular he specialized in the study of the systematics, ecology, and distribution of Protura. He is the author of dozens of articles in national and international journals on entomological and ornithological topics and one of the authors of the Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas (European Commission, 2016). He has taken part in several “third mission” initiatives aimed at promoting knowledge about animal biodiversity, and in this context he has published as main author or co-author of some popular monographs on fauna in Italy, in Liguria, or in more limited areas. Dr. Galli graduated from the University of Genoa with a master degree in Ornithology and a PhD in Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity Conservation at the University of Turin with a doctoral thesis in population genetics.