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The Orange-breasted Sunbird (Nectarinia violacea) is exclusively found in Fynbos vegetation.

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the island of Madagascar; none are native elsewhere. The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution.

Physical, climatic, and biological factors can contribute to endemism. The Orange-breasted Sunbird is exclusively found in the fynbos vegetation zone of southwestern South Africa. Political factors can play a part if a species is protected, or actively hunted, in one jurisdiction but not another.

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 that exhibit polyploidy.

Endemic types or species are especially likely to develop on biologically isolated areas such as islands because of their geographical isolation. This includes remote island groups, such as Hawaii, the Galápagos Islands, and Socotra, and biologically isolated but not island areas such as the highlands of Ethiopia, or large bodies of water like Lake Baikal.

Endemics can easily become endangered or extinct if their restricted habitat changes, particularly but not only due to human actions, including the introduction of new organisms. There were millions of both Bermuda Petrels and "Bermuda cedars" (actually junipers) in Bermuda when it was settled at the start of the seventeenth century. By the end of the century, the petrels were thought extinct. Cedars, already ravaged by centuries of shipbuilding, were driven nearly to extinction in the twentieth century by the introduction of a parasite. Bermuda petrels and cedars, although not actually extinct, are very rare today, as are other species endemic to Bermuda.

Ecoregions with high endemism[link]

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

• Fynbos (South Africa)^[1]
• Hawaiian tropical dry forests (United States)^[2]
• Hawaiian tropical rainforests (United States)^[3]
• Kwongan heathlands (Australia)^[4]
• Madagascar dry deciduous forests (Madagascar)^[5]
• Madagascar lowland forests (Madagascar)^[6]
• New Caledonia dry forests (New Caledonia)^[7]
• New Caledonia rain forests (New Caledonia)^[8]
• Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine-oak forests (Mexico)^[9]
• Sierra Madre del Sur pine-oak forests (Mexico)^[10]
• Luzon montane rainforests (Philippines)^[11]
• Luzon rainforests (Philippines)^[12]
• Luzon tropical pine forests (Philippines)^[13]
• Mindanao montane rain forests (Philippines)^[14]
• Mindanao-Eastern Visayas rain forests (Philippines)^[15]
• Palawan rain forests (Philippines)^[16]

Threats to highly endemistic regions[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Some of the principal threats to these special ecosystems are:

• Large scale logging operations^[17][18]
• Slash-and-burn techniques sometimes a part of shifting cultivation
• Destruction of habital or vegetation leads to endangering of the endemic species

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Juan J. Morrone (1994). "On the Identification of Areas of Endemism". Systematic Biology 43 (3): 438–441. DOI:10.1093/sysbio/43.3.438. http://www-museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/BiogeographyWS/Morrone1994.pdf. 
• CDL Orme, RG Davies, M Burgess, F Eigenbrod, et al. (18 August 2005). "Global hotspots of species richness are not congruent with endemism or threat". Nature 436 (7053): 1016–9. DOI:10.1038/nature03850. PMID 16107848. 
• JT Kerr (October 1997). "Species Richness, Endemism, and the Choice of Areas for Conservation". Conservation Biology 11 (55): 1094–1100. DOI:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1997.96089.x. JSTOR 2387391. http://www.macroecology.ca/pdf/consbiol1997.pdf. 

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"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.^[1]

History[link]

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[2][dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

It was also used as a term for a drug dealer in the 1950s and 1960s and can be seen in such media as Curtis Mayfield's "No Thing On Me", William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch, and in the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man", in which Lou Reed sings about going to Uptown Manhattan, specifically Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, to buy heroin.

The use of this term was expanded to counterculture groups and their battles against authority, such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report, had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government". The term eventually found its way into humorous usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine Easyriders which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

In present day, the phrase has been popularized in commercials and cinema, featuring particularly prominently as a recurring motif in the 2003 film School of Rock.^[3][4][5][6]

Use as praise[link]

The term has also been used as an approbation or form of praise. This may refer to the recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (who is in charge)." One example of this usage dates to 1879 when Otto von Bismarck commented, referring to Benjamin Disraeli's pre-eminent position at the Congress of Berlin, "The old Jew, he is the man."^{[7][dubious – discuss]}

In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment ("you da man!") indicating that the subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by doing something relatively trivial.

See also[link]

• Absentee landlord
• Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
• New World Order (conspiracy theory)
• Ruling class
• The Establishment
• Power elite
• Corrections officer
• YTMND

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). Random House Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House.