Table 1.

Comparison of the three Mediterranean-climate biodiversity hotspots in the Southern Hemisphere

Biodiversity hotspot	Area, km2	Soil fertility	Frequent fire	Total species (% endemic)	Proteaceae species (% endemic)	No. of Proteaceae lineages*
Cape Floristic Region (CFR)	78,555	very low to moderate	yes	9,000 (69%)	332 (99%)	4
Southwest Australia (SWA)	356,717	very low to low	yes	7,380 (49%)	697 (99%)	7
Central Chile†	155,000	high	no	2,864 (30%)	5 (0%)	4

Data based on refs. 1, 3–7.

*Number of lineages defined as the number of separate lineages on the phylogeny (Fig. 1) whose immediate sister group is not found in the named area at all. Note that this may be more or less than the number of independent colonization events, depending on the biogeographic scenario and the internal history of mixed terminals.

^†Hotspot defined as the winter-rainfall, Mediterranean-type climate area of the wider Chilean Winter Rainfall-Valdivian Forests biodiversity hotspot (3).