The recovery of rodent-mediated seed dispersal processes after open-pit marble mining

Mining activities, while economically valuable, can drive vegetation loss, biodiversity decline, contamination, and reduced ecosystem services. Consequently, there is an urgent need to ensure ecosystem recovery in post-mining landscapes. Seed dispersal mutualisms play a central role in plant reproduction, colonization, and recovery in degraded habitats. Here, we released 37,800 seeds to assess the effect of open-pit marble mining on rodent-mediated seed dispersal and plant recruitment, and to examine the natural recovery of seed dispersal processes at active mines compared with two decadal intervals of mine abandonment. Although mine categories did not significantly affect seed removal, they significantly disrupted rodent-mediated seed dispersal processes through truncating dispersal distances. Seed dispersal also varied with disturbance-distance categories; however, effects differed across mine categories. Seed dispersal functions had not substantially recovered 20–23 years after mining abandonment and continued to exhibit impairment similar to active mines. Furthermore, seed predation rates remained higher and dispersal distances were shorter than in natural forests. Across mine categories, seed dispersal functions were greatest for 10–13 years abandoned sites, at an intermediate recovery stage, consistent with a typical peak in mid-successional habitat ecosystem functional complexity. Our findings emphasize the critical role of animal-plant interactions in ecosystem recovery, showing that mining disrupts animal-mediated seed dispersal for decades, hindering regeneration. Mining impact assessments must therefore weigh the long-term ecological trade-offs of impaired seed dispersal and establishment against the value of the extracted mineral when assessing post-mining recovery.