Ecosystem resilience is the ability of an ecosystem to absorb change and return to the same equilibrium state after a temporary disturbance. Ecosystems with higher species diversity tend to be more resilient. The identification of such limits is dependent upon knowing how ecosystems react to and buffer external pressures and how well ecosystems recover if they are damaged. The ability of ecosystems to withstand disturbance or to recover from them is generally referred to as 'resilience'. Genetic diversity serves as a way for populations to adapt to changing environments. With more variation, it is more likely that some individuals in a population will possess variations of alleles that are suited for the environment. Those individuals are more likely to survive to produce offspring bearing that allele. Ecological resilience is ecological robustness, the ability of an ecosystem to maintain its normal patterns of nutrient cycling and biomass production after being subjected to damage caused by an ecological disturbance. Conserve habitat to support healthy fish, wildlife, and plant populations and ecosystem functions in a changing climate. Manage species and habitats to protect ecosystem functions and provide sustainable cultural, subsistence recreational and commercial use in a changing climate.

Greater biodiversity in ecosystems, species, and individuals leads to greater stability. As species with high genetic diversity and many populations that are adapted to a wide variety of conditions are more likely to be able to weather disturbances, disease, and climate change. The greatest biodiversity is found in the tropical regions of the world, particularly among tropical rainforests and coral reefs. Biodiversity is increased by genetic change and evolutionary processes and reduced by habitat destruction, population decline and extinction.Maintaining high genetic diversity allows species to adapt to future environmental changes and avoid inbreeding. Inbreeding, which happens when there are small, isolated populations, can reduce a species' ability to survive and reproduce.The idea of natural selection is that traits that can be passed down allow organisms to adapt to the environment better than other organisms of the same species. This enables better survival and reproduction compared with other members of the species, leading to evolution. Genetic diversity of plants, animals and other living organisms is what enables them to survive and thrive in this world. The capacity of species to adapt to new circumstances, whether this is resource scarcity, a changing environment or other disturbances to their natural environment, depends on genetic diversity. Ecosystem resilience is the inherent ability to absorb various disturbances and reorganize while undergoing state changes to maintain critical functions. Resilient ecosystems can also provide protection against disturbances that would reduce income or quality of life, such as storm surge protection and flood control. However, a community may be resilient despite being linked to resilient ecosystems. The main and most important factors in ecosystem resilience are namely: redundancy and modularity. Ecological redundancy is the functional compensation due to several species which perform similar functions in an ecosystem. Modularity is defined as the interconnectedness of the components of a system.