Interdependency between animal and plant speciesBiodiversity

Biodiversity is the name given to the variety of living things on Earth.

It is vital for the planet that there is high biodiversity for reasons such as:

• a variety of living things ensures the stability of the ecosystem meaning less species are in danger of becoming extinct
• humans use a variety of different species as a source of raw materials, food and medicine
• many different species rely on other species as a habitat
• many potential uses of plant-based medicines have still to be discovered