Hotspots (Biodiversity).
Syllabus: UPSC Pre GS1: Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity & Climate Change; Mains GS3
Western Ghats for UPSC: six States, formation, passes, rivers, endemic species, UNESCO and hotspot status, Gadgil vs Kasturirangan reports and landslides.
Scientists from MACS Agharkar Research Institute, Pune (DST) reported five new species of Allographa lichens from the Western Ghats. Allographa is a script-lichen genus in Graphidaceae with more than 200 species. The work is the first comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Allographa from the Western Ghats.
UPSC angle: Prelims: lichens as bioindicators.
21 Jul 2026
MoEFCC designated the Natural History Museum, Mizoram University, Aizawl, as a Designated Repository under Section 39 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. The 19 June 2026 notification makes it India's 21st such repository. It will hold voucher and type specimens from the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot.
UPSC angle: Prelims: BD Act provisions.
7 Jul 2026