Why biodiversity is most crucial?

Answer 1

The entire design of life ensures a level of variation between individuals. Some species do this genetic mixing explicitly, as with sexual reproduction, and others leave it to the environment such as many microorganisms.

Biodiversity is the macroscopic result of mutation. The question then becomes, how is mutation beneficial for life?

There is a sticker I once had that sums the answer up nicely:

"Survival of any species over time depends on reserves of mutants capable of exploiting or resisting opportunities."

Biodiversity is this principal expanded to the survival of the biosphere (all life) itself. Extinctions and population explosions are the result of the physical environment changing and some niche or mainstream life-form's difference serving to condemn it or elevate it.

A great example is the history of oxygen consumption. At once point in time oxygen was a pollutant of sorts, but the first life form that was different (mutated?) enough to make use of it gained an extreme advantage.

Now many changes can be adapted to after the fact, but some have to be anticipated and the changes made in advance. Obviously no species can know the future (though humans can uniquely imagine it, hence our position at the top) so a different mechanism must be used.

Mutation therefor functionally speaking is random adaptation in advance. The more diverse a population is the more likely it is that some individual will be able to survive whatever change the environment is next about to make.

This is the essence of evolution and life itself.

"A copy is just an identical image. There is the possibility that a single virus could destroy an entire set of systems and copies do not give rise to variety and originality. Life perpetuates itself through diversity and this includes the ability to sacrifice itself when necessary. Cells repeat the process of degeneration and regeneration until one day they die, obliterating an entire set of memory and information, only genes remain. Why continually repeat this cycle? Simply to survive by avoiding the weaknesses of an unchanging system."

Answer 2

Biodiversity is crucial because it supports ecosystem functioning, provides essential ecosystem services like pollination and water purification, and contributes to genetic diversity which is important for resilience and adaptation to changing environmental conditions. It also plays a key role in supporting human well-being, food security, and economic development. Loss of biodiversity can have detrimental impacts on ecosystems and human societies.