Biodiversity is the variety of different species found in a habitat. This includes, e.g. the number of different species, the size of each population and the differences between individuals of a species.
What are the benefits to an ecosystem of having high biodiversity?
The benefits of high biodiversity include:
Increased availability of food and shelter
Increased resilience to change
Low biodiversity impact on ecosystem stability
Low biodiversity decreases ecosystem stability. This is because when fewer species are present a change in one species is more likely to have a significant impact on other species.
