India's Biodiversity

India is exceptionally rich in biodiversity and is one of the 12 mega-diversity centers of the world. The biodiversity hotspots include mainly the Eastern Ghats and North Eastern hills. The estimates figure out to over 45,000 plant species and 810,000 animal species, representing 77% of the world's flora and 6.5% of the world's fauna, of which 33% flora and 62% fauna are endemic.

According to a recent study by the Zoological Survey of India, the Cheetah, the pink-headed duck, and the Mountain Quail have already become extinct in the last decade, and the brown antlered deer, hispid hare, etc., are feared to be at the brink of extinction. The current state of knowledge about species and ecosystems is inadequate, and we lack detailed knowledge on the distribution and population size of many species.

The Encyclopedia of Biodiversity in 3 volumes compiles succinct and authoritative information in the field. This will certainly prove an asset and reference tool to all concerned.