雅思阅读

📖 Reading Passage

The concept of 'environmental resilience' has gained traction in ecological studies, referring to an ecosystem's capacity to absorb disturbances while maintaining its fundamental structure and functions. Recent research suggests that resilience is not a static property but is dynamically influenced by biodiversity. High species diversity often enhances functional redundancy, where multiple species perform similar ecological roles, thereby buffering the system against species loss. However, this relationship is contingent on the type of disturbance; for instance, novel stressors like synthetic chemicals may overwhelm even diverse ecosystems. Moreover, resilience can be eroded by chronic anthropogenic pressures, such as habitat fragmentation, which reduce genetic variability and disrupt key interactions. Consequently, conservation strategies increasingly focus on preserving not just species richness but also the ecological processes that underpin adaptive capacity, rather than aiming for a fixed 'pristine' state.