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<p>Anthropogenic land-based disturbances can cascade into the sea, altering coastal ecosystems over long timescales. Mining exemplifies this land-sea connectivity, yet its full environmental footprint is underestimated when marine impacts are overlooked. Here, we investigate long-term coastal changes associated with nickel mining using a paleoecological approach in New Caledonia. A 226-cm sediment core spanning ~1000 years was analysed, combining ancient sedimentary DNA, foraminifera, and geochemistry. Since its onset in 1875, mining has modified sediment run-off and microbial assemblages. The most pronounced changes occurred in the 1960s after the mechanisation of extraction tools, which intensified soil erosion and increased sediment run-off, altering the richness and structure of both microeukaryotic and foraminiferal communities. Although post-1975 regulations mitigated nickel-rich run-off, persistent ecological disturbances remain. These findings highlight how terrestrial disturbances can induce long-term changes in coastal ecosystems, emphasising that land and sea should be studied and managed as a connected continuum.</p><p></p>

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Coastal ecosystem degradation driven by decades of unregulated terrestrial mining

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月16日

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  • Mathisse Meyneng,
  • Hugues Lemonnier,
  • Dominique Ansquer,
  • Florence Antypas,
  • Nicolas Briant,
  • Delphine Dissard,
  • Axel Ehrhold,
  • Thomas Haize,
  • Gwenaël Jouet,
  • Farid Juillot,
  • Clémence Lavignon,
  • Vladimir Mikryukov,
  • Arthur Monjot,
  • Pascal Le Roy,
  • Sabine Schmidt,
  • Leho Tedersoo,
  • Raffaele Siano

摘要

Anthropogenic land-based disturbances can cascade into the sea, altering coastal ecosystems over long timescales. Mining exemplifies this land-sea connectivity, yet its full environmental footprint is underestimated when marine impacts are overlooked. Here, we investigate long-term coastal changes associated with nickel mining using a paleoecological approach in New Caledonia. A 226-cm sediment core spanning ~1000 years was analysed, combining ancient sedimentary DNA, foraminifera, and geochemistry. Since its onset in 1875, mining has modified sediment run-off and microbial assemblages. The most pronounced changes occurred in the 1960s after the mechanisation of extraction tools, which intensified soil erosion and increased sediment run-off, altering the richness and structure of both microeukaryotic and foraminiferal communities. Although post-1975 regulations mitigated nickel-rich run-off, persistent ecological disturbances remain. These findings highlight how terrestrial disturbances can induce long-term changes in coastal ecosystems, emphasising that land and sea should be studied and managed as a connected continuum.