Deep-Sea Misconceptions Cause Underestimation of Seabed-Mining Impacts

Smith, Craig R.; Tunnicliffe, Verena; Colaço, Ana; Drazen, Jeffrey C.; Gollner, Sabine; Levin, Lisa A.; Mestre, Nélia C.; Meta×as, Anna; Molodtsova, Tina N.; Morato, Telmo; Sweetman, Andrew K.; Washburn, Travis; Amon, Diva J.

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2020.07.002

Cited by 72 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…In addition, a full understanding of macrobenthos in the CCZ requires morphological descriptions and barcoding of species in additional taxonomic groups (e.g., mollusks, sipunculans, nemerteans, etc.). Morphological descriptions or intercalibrations of working species, combined with molecular barcoding, are desperately needed to elucidate species ranges and to compare species composition among sampling programs (Smith et al, 2020).…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of Macrofaunal Biodiversity Across the Clarion-Clipperton Zone: An Area Targeted for Seabed Mining

et al. 2021

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Macrofauna are an abundant and diverse component of abyssal benthic communities and are likely to be heavily impacted by polymetallic nodule mining in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). In 2012, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) used available benthic biodiversity data and environmental proxies to establish nine no-mining areas, called Areas of Particular Environmental Interest (APEIs) in the CCZ. The APEIs were intended as a representative system of protected areas to safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem function across the region from mining impacts. Since 2012, a number of research programs have collected additional ecological baseline data from the CCZ. We assemble and analyze macrofaunal biodiversity data sets from eight studies, focusing on three dominant taxa (Polychaeta, Tanaidacea, and Isopoda), and encompassing 477 box-core samples to address the following questions: (1) How do macrofaunal abundance, biodiversity, and community structure vary across the CCZ, and what are the potential ecological drivers? (2) How representative are APEIs of the nearest contractor areas? (3) How broadly do macrofaunal species range across the CCZ region? and (4) What scientific gaps hinder our understanding of macrofaunal biodiversity and biogeography in the CCZ? Our analyses led us to hypothesize that sampling efficiencies vary across macrofaunal data sets from the CCZ, making quantitative comparisons between studies challenging. Nonetheless, we found that macrofaunal abundance and diversity varied substantially across the CCZ, likely due in part to variations in particulate organic carbon (POC) flux and nodule abundance. Most macrofaunal species were collected only as singletons or doubletons, with additional species still accumulating rapidly at all sites, and with most collected species appearing to be new to science. Thus, macrofaunal diversity remains poorly sampled and described across the CCZ, especially within APEIs, where a total of nine box cores have been taken across three APEIs. Some common macrofaunal species ranged over 600–3000 km, while other locally abundant species were collected across ≤ 200 km. The vast majority of macrofaunal species are rare, have been collected only at single sites, and may have restricted ranges. Major impediments to understanding baseline conditions of macrofaunal biodiversity across the CCZ include: (1) limited taxonomic description and/or barcoding of the diverse macrofauna, (2) inadequate sampling in most of the CCZ, especially within APEIs, and (3) lack of consistent sampling protocols and efficiencies.

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Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of Macrofaunal Biodiversity Across the Clarion-Clipperton Zone: An Area Targeted for Seabed Mining

et al. 2021

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“…In the deep sea, proposed polymetallic nodule mining activities are likely to harm seafloor ecosystems, including unique habitats such as manganese nodules (Glover and Smith, 2003;Niner et al, 2018;Washburn et al, 2019;Smith et al, 2020). To protect regional biodiversity and ecosystem functions from the nodule-mining impacts in the CCZ, nine APEIs were designated as no-mining areas (Wedding et al, 2013).…”

Section: Environmental Heterogeneity and Deep-sea Miningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contrary to popular perception, the abyssal seafloor exhibits substantial variability in habitat structure and key environmental variables across a broad range of scales, with corresponding heterogeneity in benthic habitat structure and biodiversity (e.g., Lutz et al, 2007;Wei et al, 2010;Danovaro et al, 2014;Zeppilli et al, 2016;Smith et al, 2020). Commercial exploitation of deep-sea resources, including fishing, seabed mining, and deep-sea hydrocarbon drilling, have the potential to damage deep-sea ecosystems over large spatial and temporal scales (e.g., Borowski and Thiel, 1998;Glover and Smith, 2003;Jones et al, 2017;Weaver et al, 2018;Washburn et al, 2019;Smith et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introduction Environmental Conditions In the Deep Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Heterogeneity Throughout the Clarion-Clipperton Zone and the Potential Representativity of the APEI Network

et al. 2021

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Environmental variables such as food supply, nodule abundance, sediment characteristics, and water chemistry may influence abyssal seafloor communities and ecosystem functions at scales from meters to thousands of kilometers. Thus, knowledge of environmental variables is necessary to understand drivers of organismal distributions and community structure, and for selection of proxies for regional variations in community structure, biodiversity, and ecosystem functions. In October 2019, the Deep CCZ Biodiversity Synthesis Workshop was conducted to (i) compile recent seafloor ecosystem data from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), (ii) synthesize patterns of seafloor biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and potential environmental drivers across the CCZ, and (iii) assess the representativity of no-mining areas (Areas of Particular Environmental Interest, APEIs) for subregions and areas in the CCZ targeted for polymetallic nodule mining. Here we provide a compilation and summary of water column and seafloor environmental data throughout the CCZ used in the Synthesis Workshop and in many of the papers in this special volume. Bottom-water variables were relatively homogenous throughout the region while nodule abundance, sediment characteristics, seafloor topography, and particulate organic carbon flux varied across CCZ subregions and between some individual subregions and their corresponding APEIs. This suggests that additional APEIs may be needed to protect the full range of habitats and biodiversity within the CCZ.

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“…Estimating the impacts and accounting for the knowledge gaps with a probabilistic approach can aid to either support a moratorium and not to go ahead with exploitation in line with a precautionary approach (Barbier et al 2014), or to provide information for more comprehensive risk management plans for potential future mining activities, including the need for mitigation measures. In a case where uncertainties are considered too high, permits could be made to be conditional on improved knowledge by allowing only one mining operation to proceed until impacts have been documented in more detail(Smith et al 2020), urging the industry to carry out further studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Causal approach to environmental risks of seabed mining

Kaikkonen

Helle

Kostamo

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Seabed mining is approaching the commercial mining phase across the world's oceans. This rapid industrialization of seabed resource use is introducing new pressures to marine environments. The environmental impacts of such pressures should be carefully evaluated prior to permitting new activities, yet observational data is mostly missing. Here, we examine the environmental risks of seabed mining using a causal, probabilistic network approach. Drawing on a series of interviews with a multidisciplinary group of experts, we outline the cause-effect pathways related to seabed mining activities to inform quantitative risk assessments. The approach consists of (1) iterative model building with experts to identify the causal connections between seabed mining activities and the affected ecosystem components, and (2) quantitative probabilistic modelling to provide estimates of mortality of benthic fauna in the Baltic Sea. The model is used to evaluate alternative mining scenarios, offering a quantitative means to highlight the uncertainties around the impacts of mining. We further outline requirements for operationalizing quantitative risk assessments, highlighting the importance of a cross-disciplinary approach to risk identification. The model can be used to support permitting processes by providing a more comprehensive description of the potential environmental impacts of seabed resource use, allowing iterative updating of the model as new information becomes available.

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Deep-Sea Misconceptions Cause Underestimation of Seabed-Mining Impacts

Abstract: Fission-fusion bat behavior as a strategy for balancing the conflicting needs of maximizing information accuracy and minimizing infection risk.

Cited by 72 publications

References 17 publications

Patterns of Macrofaunal Biodiversity Across the Clarion-Clipperton Zone: An Area Targeted for Seabed Mining

Patterns of Macrofaunal Biodiversity Across the Clarion-Clipperton Zone: An Area Targeted for Seabed Mining

Environmental Heterogeneity Throughout the Clarion-Clipperton Zone and the Potential Representativity of the APEI Network

Causal approach to environmental risks of seabed mining

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