Why might an organism evolve to have a high number of offspring with little care?

An organism may evolve to have a high number of offspring with minimal parental care primarily to increase the chances of survival of at least some of those young. In environments where the survival rate of offspring is low due to predation or limited resources, producing a large number of offspring can enhance the likelihood that some will survive to adulthood. This strategy, known as r-strategy in ecology, is beneficial in unstable or unpredictable environments where the focus is on quantity over quality. By saturating the environment with many offspring, the parents improve the odds that a few will reach maturity and eventually reproduce, thus passing on their genes to the next generation. This strategy does not guarantee survival for all offspring, but it maximizes the potential for some to thrive despite inherent risks.