Skip to main content
Dryad

Data from: Multiple facets of biodiversity are threatened by mining-induced land-use change in the Brazilian Amazon

Data files

Jul 06, 2023 version files 4.98 MB

Abstract

Aim 

Mining is increasingly pressuring areas of critical importance for biodiversity conservation, such as the Brazilian Amazon. Biodiversity data are limited in the tropics, restricting the scope for risks to be appropriately estimated before mineral licencing decisions are made. As the distributions and range sizes of other taxa differ markedly from those of vertebrates – the common proxy for analysis of risk to biodiversity from mining – whether mining threatens lesser-studied taxonomic groups differentially at a regional scale is unclear.

Location

Brazilian Amazon

Methods

We assess risks to several facets of biodiversity from industrial mining by comparing mining areas (within 70km of an active mining lease) and areas unaffected by mining, employing species richness, species endemism, phylogenetic diversity, and phylogenetic endemism metrics calculated for angiosperms, arthropods, and vertebrates.

Results

Mining areas contained higher densities of species occurrence records than the unaffected landscape, and we accounted for this sampling bias in our analyses. None of the four biodiversity metrics differed between mining and non-mining areas for vertebrates. For arthropods, species endemism was greater in mined areas. Mined areas also had greater angiosperm species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and phylogenetic endemism, although lower species endemism than unmined areas.

Main Conclusions

Unlike for vertebrates, facets of angiosperm and arthropod diversity are relatively higher in areas of mining activity, underscoring the need to consider multiple taxonomic groups and biodiversity facets when assessing risk and evaluating management options for mining threats. Particularly concerning is the proximity of mining to areas supporting deep evolutionary history, which may be impossible to recover or replace. As pressures to expand mining in the Amazon grow, impact assessments with broader taxonomic reach and metric focus will be vital to conserving biodiversity in mining regions.