Mining reshapes animal communities at a local and landscape-scale

Abstract

Anthropogenic disturbances, such as mining, significantly modify landscapes and can have negative effects on ecosystems and the wildlife therein. Here, we investigate the ecological impacts of mining camps (semi-urban accommodation areas in mining landscapes) on wildlife communities, including for species composition and diversity, ecosystem function, predator-prey networks, and temporal activity. Using a distributed control-impact design, we deployed camera traps at mining camps and ecologically similar reference landscapes across Western Australia's Pilbara region. We found a marked difference in species composition at mining camps, suggesting the formation of novel assemblages. Lower functional dispersion at mining camps suggests that the ecological functions being performed by species here are less varied, although ecosystems at mining camps have high functional redundancy, likely buffering the effects of future disturbance. Predator-prey networks at mining camps had similar overall structure to reference landscapes despite major differences in species composition. However, lower network connectance at mining camps suggests that food webs are more vulnerable to future disturbance or species loss. Behavioural animal responses included altered temporal activity by some animal groups, shifting predator and competition pressures at mining camps. Certain animal groups (e.g., dingoes, feral herbivores) were more resilient to disturbance, while localised effects at mining camps highlight the differing influences of disturbance at different scales. These results demonstrate the complex impacts of human disturbance on animal communities and ecosystems, and the need to consider community-wide approaches when undertaking management in modified landscapes.