Why is biodiversity so important? - Kim Preshoff

Biodiversity functions as an insurance policy for human survival because people are embedded in ecological webs and cutting biological links reduces ecosystem services, increasing risks to food, health, and societal stability.

Decomposer insects maintain soil fertility because they consume and break down organic leftovers, recycling nutrients back into the soil to create the rich substrate plants need to grow.

When an ecosystem depends on a keystone species, losing that species can undermine the entire system because the keystone provides essential structure, microhabitats, and symbiotic links that many other species rely on.

In very diverse ecosystems like the Amazon, losing a single species typically won't collapse the system because the large number of species, genetic variation, and complex interactions create redundant roles and compensatory pathways that absorb the loss.

Genetic diversity within a species enables populations to cope with environmental fluctuations because variation gives some individuals traits that let them survive climate shifts, disease, or habitat fragmentation while others fail.

Biodiversity strengthens an ecosystem's resilience because ecosystem, species, and genetic diversity interconnect to form a denser 'weave' that provides structural redundancy and buffering against disturbances.