Enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services in quarry restoration – challenges, strategies, and practice

Abstract

Although covering less than 1% of the land surface, extraction activities have long-lasting impacts on local ecosystems, inevitably damaging biological diversity and depleting ecosystem services. Many extractive companies are now aware of their impacts and, while pressured by society, demand concrete solutions from researchers to reverse the effects of exploitation and restore biodiversity and ecosystems services. In this article, we compile and synthesize the contributions of the latest available research on quarry restoration. We depict and discuss some of the most pressing issues regarding (1) the challenges of restoring quarries; (2) the opportunities for biodiversity and ecosystem services delivery; and (3) outline further research addressing current gaps. We conclude that quarries pose different abiotic and biotic constraints that act interdependently, hampering the attainment of effective restoration if considered solely. Such constraints need to be addressed holistically to lastly encourage the self-sustainability of the system by reinstating ecological processes. However, a restored site does not have to specifically mimic the pristine situation, as under certain conditions alternative approaches may uphold valuable natural assets contributing to the conservation of rare, restricted, or protected species and habitats.

Unearthing the global impact of mining construction minerals on biodiversity

“…3), yet residential and commercial development is classified as a threat on the Red List almost 20 times more frequently than construction mining. It is important to acknowledge that active, abandoned or restored pits and quarries may contribute to the conservation of rare and threatened species and habitats (e.g., sand martin Riparia riparia, flamingo moss Tortula cernua) [47][48][49] , although opportunities are contextand site-dependent 48,50 and there is a severe evidence gap on how impacts can be offset to achieve no net loss 51,52 . Considering all these points, and the time-lags in recognizing threats and extinction events affecting the Red List 53,54 , the real number of species impacted could be much higher.…”

Understanding Current Challenges in Evaluating Environmental Impacts for Aggregate Producers through a Case Study in Western Sweden

“…Biodiversity and landuse change are not just challenges for the aggregate industry but pose issues for LCA practitioners universally [38]. It can be particularly challenging to quantify biodiversity impacts for quarries, as certain sites have provided unique ecosystems for rare species to flourish after mine closure [39,40]. However, despite these impacts being critical to a holistic view of environmental impacts, the lack of their inclusion at this stage is not seen as a risk to implementation of LCA by producers.…”

Bottom-up cascading effects of quarry revegetation deplete bird-mediated seed dispersal services

“…Notwithstanding their socio-economic value, quarrying activities cause profound modifications on ecosystems, such as removal of vegetation cover, biodiversity loss and the depletion of ecosystem services (Akanwa et al, 2017;Fugiel et al, 2017). Therefore, there is an urging need to employ effective restoration practices in post-extraction areas to accelerate ecosystem recovery (Salgueiro et al, 2020a). Traditionally, restoration practices largely relied on soil formation and revegetation, however, awareness on the restoration of ecological processes and the services they provide is currently increasing (e.g., Dmitrakova et al, 2018;Salgueiro et al, 2020b).…”