what is the importance of biodiversity?

Answer 1

The inter-relationship between plants and animals.

The best way to describe it, - is you remove one plant from a location, - the unintended consequences show up years later that somehow, someway, another organism uses that 'item' to its benefit. If it's not there, there's a whole set of cascading consequences, - most of which are negative.

Of course this is similar to the problem of introducing an 'alien' species to a new location. (wild) Pigs in Australia for example.

Answer 2

Basically, life has evolved as a massive number of plants, animals and micro-organism species that interact and have interacted with and developed alongside each other over a long period of time. Biodiversity refers to the range of species found in a given area.

The term for a community of organisms is an ecosystem. Ecosystems rely on the cycling of raw materials and energy between organisms - for example, plants use photosynthesis to produce chemical energy which they then use to grow and survive (these are termed autotrophs). Animals and other organisms lack chlorophyll and cannot produce their own energy - therefore they obtain it by consuming other organisms (termed heterotrophs). Animals are further specialised into herbivores (plant eaters) and carnivores; herbivore species generally have specialised gastrointestinal tracts for breaking down complex plant matter (eg ruminants like cattle have a rumen or forestomach where fungi and bacteria act upon ingested vegetation to break down cellulose). Carnivores on the other hand have developed sophisticated hunting capabilities and survive by consuming other animals. Finally, micro-organisms and certain insects survive on wastes and dead animals and plants, cleaning up the rubbish and freeing up raw materials for plants to take up.

Ecosystems develop to support its community members in a manner particular to the local environment parameters - for example, rainfall, terrain, sunlight, temperature, pressure, chemical composition of the soil, and so on.

Ecosystems are full of these cycles and interdependent species, and so interfering with one species - no matter how insignificant it might be - can affect its viability. Ecosystems are also linked to other ecosystems on a global scale; fish belonging to marine ecosystems often rely on coastal and estuary ecosystems for shelter for breeding and the development of juveniles, and may require one particular ecosystem to exist in an area...

Answer 3

In case of a new virus a highly diverse population can withstand the attack better, a few years ago there was a bacteria or fungus attack on bananas and guess what, all bananas tree were genetically identical, the world almost lost bananas for good.