Ecological Significance - Conservation of Wildlife
Besides serving as a valuable genetic reservoir, each species interacts with other species and plays a role in the transfer of energy and materials within and between ecosystems; hence each one in its own way contributes to the stability of ecosystems. Each and every species in an ecosystem is important for maintaining ecosystem stability. If a number of species disappear, the diversity diminishes and number of checks and balances on plant and animal populations decreases.
As species are lost, the stabilising influences of predation, parasitism, and competition are disrupted, and an ecosystem thus becomes more vulnerable to disturbances, that in some cases threaten to destroy it. Although, we tend to mourn the extinction of an animal species more than the loss of a plant species, the extinction of plant species is often more critical to ecosystem, stability. Because plants occupy the base of the food webs, a single disappearing plant species may cause extinction of 10 to 20 animal species, because they were dependent on that species for food or shelter at some time of their life span.