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  • 1
    Publication Date: 2020-02-06
    Description: Highlights • Deep-sea mineral exploration and exploitation licenses have been issued recently. • Mining will modify the abiotic and biotic environment. • At directly mined sites, species are removed and cannot resist disturbance. • Recovery is highly variable in distinct ecosystems and among benthic taxa. • Community changes may persist over geological time-scales at directly mined sites. Abstract With increasing demand for mineral resources, extraction of polymetallic sulphides at hydrothermal vents, cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts at seamounts, and polymetallic nodules on abyssal plains may be imminent. Here, we shortly introduce ecosystem characteristics of mining areas, report on recent mining developments, and identify potential stress and disturbances created by mining. We analyze species’ potential resistance to future mining and perform meta-analyses on population density and diversity recovery after disturbances most similar to mining: volcanic eruptions at vents, fisheries on seamounts, and experiments that mimic nodule mining on abyssal plains. We report wide variation in recovery rates among taxa, size, and mobility of fauna. While densities and diversities of some taxa can recover to or even exceed pre-disturbance levels, community composition remains affected after decades. The loss of hard substrata or alteration of substrata composition may cause substantial community shifts that persist over geological timescales at mined sites.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
    Format: text
    Format: other
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  • 2
    Publication Date: 2020-02-06
    Description: Commercial-scale mining for polymetallic nodules could have a major impact on the deepsea environment, but the effects of these mining activities on deep-sea ecosystems are very poorly known. The first commercial test mining for polymetallic nodules was carried out in 1970. Since then a number of small-scale commercial test mining or scientific disturbance studies have been carried out. Here we evaluate changes in faunal densities and diversity of benthic communities measured in response to these 11 simulated or test nodule mining disturbances using meta-analysis techniques. We find that impacts are often severe immediately after mining, with major negative changes in density and diversity of most groups occurring. However, in some cases, the mobile fauna and small-sized fauna experienced less negative impacts over the longer term. At seven sites in the Pacific, multiple surveys assessed recovery in fauna over periods of up to 26 years. Almost all studies show some recovery in faunal density and diversity for meiofauna and mobile megafauna, often within one year. However, very few faunal groups return to baseline or control conditions after two decades. The effects of polymetallic nodule mining are likely to be long term. Our analyses show considerable negative biological effects of seafloor nodule mining, even at the small scale of test mining experiments, although there is variation in sensitivity amongst organisms of different sizes and functional groups, which have important implications for ecosystem responses. Unfortunately, many past studies have limitations that reduce their effectiveness in determining responses. We provide recommendations to improve future mining impact test studies. Further research to assess the effects of test-mining activities will inform ways to improve mining practices and guide effective environmental management of mining activities.
    Type: Article , PeerReviewed , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
    Format: text
    Location Call Number Limitation Availability
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  • 3
    Publication Date: 2018-02-23
    Description: With increasing demand for mineral resources, extraction of polymetallic sulphides at hydrothermal vents, cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts at seamounts, and polymetallic nodules on abyssal plains may be imminent. Here, we shortly introduce ecosystem characteristics of mining areas, report on recent mining developments, and identify potential stress and disturbances created by mining. We analyze species’ potential resistance to future mining and perform meta-analyses on population density and diversity recovery after disturbances most similar to mining: volcanic eruptions at vents, fisheries on seamounts, and experiments that mimic nodule mining on abyssal plains. We report wide variation in recovery rates among taxa, size, and mobility of fauna. While densities and diversities of some taxa can recover to or even exceed pre-disturbance levels, community composition remains affected after decades. The loss of hard substrata or alteration of substrata composition may cause substantial community shifts that persist over geological timescales at mined sites.
    Repository Name: EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
    Type: Article , peerRev , info:eu-repo/semantics/article
    Format: application/pdf
    Location Call Number Limitation Availability
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  • 4
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    PANGAEA
    In:  Supplement to: Vanreusel, Ann; Hilário, Ana; Ribeiro, Pedro A; Menot, Lenaick; Martínez Arbizu, Pedro (2016): Threatened by mining, polymetallic nodules are required to preserve abyssal epifauna. Scientific Reports, 6(1), https://doi.org/10.1038/srep26808
    Publication Date: 2024-02-02
    Description: Standardized video transects, 17 in total, were performed one meter above the seafloor using the Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) Kiel 6000 to identify composition and densities of both sessile and mobile megabenthic epifauna (excluding fish, crustaceans and large protozoans) in areas with dense nodule concentrations (〉15% cover) and areas with very few or no obvious surface nodules (〈1%).
    Keywords: Actiniaria; Alcyonacea; Antipatharia; Area; Asteroidea; Ceriantharia; Corallimorpharia; Crinoidea; Date/Time of event; Echinoidea; Elevation of event; Event label; Holothuroidea; Hydrozoa; JPI Oceans - Ecological Aspects of Deep-Sea Mining; JPIO-MiningImpact; LATITUDE; Length; Location; LONGITUDE; North Pacific Ocean; Ophiuroidea; Porifera; Remote operated vehicle; ROV; ROV03; ROV05; ROV06; ROV07; ROV08; ROV10; ROV11; ROV12; ROV13; ROV14; Sample code/label; SO239; SO239_101-1; SO239_131-1; SO239_141-1; SO239_157-1; SO239_161-1; SO239_189-1; SO239_200-1; SO239_41-1; SO239_64-1; SO239_82-1; Sonne_2; Substrate type; Width
    Type: Dataset
    Format: text/tab-separated-values, 576 data points
    Location Call Number Limitation Availability
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