Which ecosystem services are supported by healthy biodiversity?

Healthy biodiversity is essential for maintaining the stability and productivity of ecosystems, which in turn support various ecosystem services that benefit human welfare. These services include:12

• Primary Productivity: Diverse communities maintain higher levels of biomass production, which serves as the foundation for food webs.32
• Resilience and Stability: Species-rich ecosystems are better equipped to recover from disturbances, such as drought or grazing, and maintain consistent functioning over time.32
• Resource Provisioning: Biodiversity provides critical resources, including food, building materials, and chemical compounds used in pharmaceuticals and traditional medicines.4
• Environmental Regulation: Healthy ecosystems perform vital processes such as pollination of crops, soil maintenance, water purification, and the attenuation of flooding through features like wetlands.12

When biodiversity declines, ecosystems lose their complexity and resilience, often leading to a reduction in the quality of these services and an increased risk of ecosystem collapse. Protecting biodiversity is therefore a fundamental ethical and practical necessity for sustaining the natural systems upon which human society depends.23