Pit lakes are a global legacy of mining: an integrated approach to achieving sustainable ecosystems and value for communities

Blanchette, Melanie L.; Lund, Mark A.

doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2016.11.012

Cited by 113 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Sand and gravel are extracted all over Europe in thousands of quarries and pits ( e.g., over 23,000 quarries and pits in 2014 alone; UEPG, ). The resulting man‐made lakes have become common landscape elements in industrialised countries (Blanchette & Lund, ; Mollema & Antonellini, ; Søndergaard et al, ). For example, in our study area of Lower Saxony, Germany, there are > 3500 gravel pit lakes with an area larger than 1 ha, representing 95% of all similarly sized water bodies and covering 70% of the total lentic water bodies in the region (Manfrin et al ., 2018, unpublished data).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When properly managed, these novel aquatic ecosystems can counteract the freshwater biodiversity crisis by providing secondary habitats for a wide range of aquatic species (Biggs et al, 2017;De Meester et al, 2005;Dodson et al, 2000;Emmrich et al, 2014;Lemmens et al, 2013;Santoul et al, 2009;Zhao et al, 2016). Gravel pits are usually groundwater-fed and not necessarily connected to surrounding river systems (Blanchette & Lund, 2016;Mollema & Antonellini, 2016;Søndergaard et al, 2018); thus, they display the interesting biogeographic feature of islands in a landscape (Olden et al, 2010).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Effect of recreational‐fisheries management on fish biodiversity in gravel pit lakes, with contrasts to unmanaged lakes

Matern

Emmrich

Klefoth

et al. 2019

Journal of Fish Biology

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Gravel pit lakes are novel ecosystems that can be colonized by fish through natural or anthropogenic pathways. In central Europe, many of them are managed by recreational anglers and thus experience regular fish stocking. However, also unmanaged gravel pits may be affected by stocking, either through illegal fish introductions or, occasionally, by immigration from connected water bodies. We sampled 23 small (< 20 ha) gravel pit lakes (16 managed and 7 unmanaged) in north‐western Germany using littoral electrofishing and multimesh gillnets. Our objective was to compare the fish biodiversity in gravel pit lakes in the presence or absence of recreational fisheries. Given the size of the sampled lakes, we expected species poor communities and elevated fish diversity in the managed systems due to regular stocking of game fish species. Our study lakes were primarily mesotrophic and did not differ in key abiotic and biotic environmental characteristics. Lakes of both management types hosted similar fish abundances and biomasses, but were substantially different in terms of fish community structure and species richness. Fish were present in all lakes, with a minimum of three species. Higher α‐diversity and lower β‐diversity was discovered in managed gravel pit lakes compared to unmanaged lakes. Consequently, recreational‐fisheries management fostered homogenization of fish communities, by stocking a similar set of fish species desired by anglers such as piscivorous fish and large bodied cyprinids. However, unmanaged gravel pit lakes were also affected by human‐mediated colonization, presumably by illegal fish releases. Hardly any non‐native species were detected, suggesting that recreational‐fisheries management did not foster the spread of exotic species in our study region.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of recreational‐fisheries management on fish biodiversity in gravel pit lakes, with contrasts to unmanaged lakes

Matern

Emmrich

Klefoth

et al. 2019

Journal of Fish Biology

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“…Large-scale mining permanently changes landscapes. Mountaintop removal, construction of new landforms, and the creation of thousands of open pits occurs across every inhabited continent on earth (Blanchette and Lund 2016). Pit lakes form when these open pits fill with ground, surface and rain water, and by virtue of their size and water toxicity, can have substantial environmental impact Miller et al 1996;Younger and Wolkersdorfer 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macroinvertebrates and Microbes (Archaea, Bacteria) Offer Complementary Insights into Mine-Pit Lake Ecology

et al. 2019

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The broad objective of this research was to determine the environmental drivers of macroinvertebrate and microbial assemblages in acidic pit lakes. This is important because pit lake ecosystem development is influenced by prevailing environmental characteristics. Three lakes (Stockton, Kepwari, WO5H) within a larger pit-lake district in Collie, Western Australia were surveyed for spatial variability of benthic macroinvertebrate and microbe (Archaea, Bacteria) assemblage composition as well as potential environmental drivers (riparian condition, aquatic habitat, sediments, and aquatic chemistry) of assemblages. With the exception of sediment chemistry, biophysical variables were significantly different across lakes and reflected riparian condition and groundwater chemistry. Microbial assemblages in pit lakes were significantly different across lakes and correlated with water chemistry, particularly metals in Lake WO5H. However, the most abundant microbes were not readily identified beyond class, making it difficult to speculate on their ecological function. Macroinvertebrate assemblage composition and species richness were also significantly different across all lakes, and in Lake WO5H (a lake with low pH and high metal concentrations), taxa were correlated with benthic organic matter as well as water chemistry. Results indicated that despite poor water quality, input of nutrients from terrestrial leaf litter can support or augment pit lake ecosystems. This is a demonstration of the concept that connection of pit lakes to catchments can positively affect aquatic ecosystems, which can inform management actions for remediation.

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“…When properly managed (Lemmens et al , 2013), novel aquatic ecosystems, such as gravel pit lakes (i.e., lentic water bodies created by human use of sand, clay, gravel and other natural resources), reservoirs and ponds, can counteract the freshwater biodiversity crisis by creating secondary habitats for colonization and refuges in the case natural ecosystems deteriorate (Dodson et al , 2000; Santoul et al , 2004, 2009; De Meester et al , 2005; Völkl, 2010; Emmrich et al , 2014; Zhao et al , 2016; Biggs et al , 2017). Gravel pits are often groundwater-fed and not necessarily connected to surrounding river systems (Blanchette & Lund, 2016; Mollema & Antonellini, 2016; Søndergaard et al , 2018); they thus display the interesting biogeographic feature of islands in a landscape (Olden et al , 2010). This characteristic causes a slow colonisation and a potentially low species richness (Magnuson et al , 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2014, sand and gravel were extracted from over 28.000 quarries and pits in Europe (UEPG, 2017) resulting in small and isolated gravel pit lakes as common landscape elements in industrialized countries (Blanchette & Lund, 2016; Mollema & Antonellini, 2016; Søndergaard et al , 2018). In Lower Saxony, Germany, more than 37,000 gravel pit lakes smaller than 20 ha exist, and they cover about 70% of all lentic habitats in this region (Manfrin, unpublished data).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of recreational fisheries management on fish biodiversity in gravel pit lakes with contrasts to unmanaged lakes

Matern

Emmrich²,

Klefoth³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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20Gravel pit lakes constitute novel ecosystems that can be colonized by fishes through 21 natural or anthropogenic pathways. Many of these man-made lakes are used by 22 recreational anglers and experience regular fish stocking. Recreationally unmanaged 23 gravel pits may also be affected by fish introductions, e.g., through illegal fish 24 releases, thereby contributing to the formation of site-specific communities. Our 25 objective was to compare the fish biodiversity in gravel pit lakes with and without the 26 recent influence of recreational fisheries management. We sampled 23 small (< 20 27 ha) gravel pit lakes (16 managed and 7 unmanaged) in north-western Germany and 28 compared fish community and diversity metrics obtained using littoral electrofishing 29 and multimesh gillnet catch per unit effort data. Given the size of the lakes we 30 sampled we expected species poor communities and elevated fish diversity in the 31 managed systems due to stocking. The two lake types were primarily mesotrophic 32 and did not differ in key abiotic and biotic environmental characteristics. Both lakes 33 types hosted similar fish abundance and biomass, but were substantially different in 34 terms of the fish community structure and species richness. Fish were present in all 35 lakes with at least three species. We discovered a higher α-diversity and a lower β-36 diversity in managed gravel pit lakes compared to unmanaged lakes. Thus, 37 recreational fisheries management appeared to foster homogenization of fish 38 communities, likely because fisheries managers stock these lakes with desired fish 39 species (e.g., piscivorous fishes and large bodied cyprinids). However, we also 40 detected anthropogenic pathways in the colonization of unmanaged gravel pit lakes, 41 presumably from illegal releases by private people. Importantly, hardly any non-42 native species were detected in the gravel pits we studied, suggesting that 43 recreational fisheries management not necessarily promotes the spread of exotic 44 species. 45 Fish conservation; novel ecosystems; non-native species; fish stocking; recreational 47 fishing; fish community composition 48 49 Significance Statement 50 3Little is known about fish communities in artificially created gravel pit lakes. We 51 compared those managed by recreational fishers with those lacking fisheries 52 management in north-western Germany. We found fishes in all gravel pit lakes and 53 demonstrated a higher α-diversity but more homogenized fish communities in 54 managed gravel pit lakes compared to unmanaged lakes. We did not detect the 55 establishment of relevant abundances of non-natives fishes despite intensive 56 fisheries management. 57 58

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Pit lakes are a global legacy of mining: an integrated approach to achieving sustainable ecosystems and value for communities

Cited by 113 publications

References 27 publications

Effect of recreational‐fisheries management on fish biodiversity in gravel pit lakes, with contrasts to unmanaged lakes

Effect of recreational‐fisheries management on fish biodiversity in gravel pit lakes, with contrasts to unmanaged lakes

Macroinvertebrates and Microbes (Archaea, Bacteria) Offer Complementary Insights into Mine-Pit Lake Ecology

Impact of recreational fisheries management on fish biodiversity in gravel pit lakes with contrasts to unmanaged lakes

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