Q.How does genetic diversity affect sustenance of a species?

Step 1. Genetic diversity is the variation in genes, chromosomes and alleles found among individuals and populations of the same species.

Step 2. This variation means that a population is not made up of genetically identical individuals -- some individuals carry gene combinations that are better suited to particular or changing environmental conditions than others.

Step 3. When the environment changes (for example, a new disease, a shift in climate, or a new predator), a genetically diverse population is far more likely to contain at least some individuals able to survive and reproduce under the new conditions, allowing the species as a whole to persist -- whereas a genetically uniform population risks being wiped out entirely by a single stress it cannot cope with. …

Link genetic variation within a population to survival advantage under changing condit …

• Describing genetic diversity without explaining WHY it helps survival (i.e., missing the 'some individuals survive change' logic). …