Biodiversity is the variety of life in a place, including plants, animals, insects, fungi, microbes, and people. It’s not just how many species exist, but how they interact and support one another.

When biodiversity is healthy, it supports clean air and water, pollination, pest control, flood protection, and more. But these systems are breaking down as habitats are lost and fragmented. This is the biodiversity crisis.

Native plants support more life than do non-native plants. They provide the food and habitat that local insects, birds, and other wildlife need to survive.

Many insects can only live on the plants they evolved with. When those plants are missing, insect populations decline.

That matters because insects are the foundation of the food web. Adding native plants is one of the most effective ways to increase the amount of life your space can support.

Invasive plants reduce biodiversity and disrupt the ecosystems that support life.

They spread quickly and outcompete native plants for light, water, and space. As they take over, they reduce plant diversity and limit the food and habitat available to insects and wildlife.

Because many insects rely on specific plants, these changes ripple through the food web. Removing invasive plants creates space for native plants to return and helps restore the systems that support life.

Biodiversity is declining rapidly. This includes not just rare species, but the common plants and animals that ecosystems depend on.

As land is developed and fragmented, habitats can no longer support the life they once did. Protected areas alone are not enough.

Most land is privately owned. That means the future of biodiversity depends on what happens in yards, campuses, roadsides, and other everyday spaces. What we do now will shape how much life these spaces can support in the future.

It’s easy to think one yard doesn’t matter, but these spaces add up. Most land is made up of neighborhoods, schools, businesses, and roadsides. Together, they hold huge potential.

What you plant affects what insects can survive, which affects birds and other wildlife. Even small changes can increase the amount of life your space supports.

When many people take action, these efforts connect. They create networks of habitat that allow species to move and survive. This is how small actions grow into meaningful change.