A patch of moss is doing more for the life around it than it looks. It is food, shelter, building material and a damp refuge all at once, and the garden is poorer without it.
Birds build with it
Many birds line their nests with moss, prized for being soft, insulating and water-holding. Wrens, robins, chaffinches, long-tailed tits and others gather it every spring. A garden with moss to hand makes nest-building easier, which is one good reason not to scour every last scrap off the lawn in March.
A world for invertebrates
The damp, sheltered spaces in a moss cushion hold springtails, mites, beetles, spiders and a host of smaller creatures, and the things that eat them come looking. Moss is hunting ground as much as habitat. For the truly tiny end of that community, including the famous water bears, see the hidden world in a moss cushion.
A refuge when it is dry
Because moss buffers humidity and temperature, it gives small animals somewhere to ride out a dry, hot spell that would see them off on bare ground. In a warming climate that buffering matters more, not less. A mossy log, wall base or shady corner is a little reservoir of cool and damp the rest of the garden can draw on.
Leaning into it
You do not have to do much: leave some moss rather than removing all of it, keep a shady damp corner, and resist the urge for a sterile, scrubbed surface everywhere. A garden that tolerates moss supports more life, with no extra work. See what moss is good for for the wider picture.