Collection
Implications of Deep-Sea Mining on Marine Ecosystems
Guest Editors: Guy Gilron, Samantha Smith
Table of Contents
Guy Gilron, Samantha Smith
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, Volume 18, Issue 3, May 2022, Pages 631-633, https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.4526
Key Points
- Deep seabed mining (DSM) is one of the options to meet the demand for metals globally.
- This special series presents neutral and unbiased perspectives on the environmental implications of DSM.
- Fundamental questions remain: can a new industry be given the opportunity to “do the right thing”; how do evidence-based decisions about where metals should come from be made, when emotions and fear often drive the debate, and can we assume that decisions and policies are best achieved based on data and evidence.
- Papers presented in the special series help address key questions and cover a range of diverse topics from ethical frameworks to biodiversity assessment to risk assessment to restoration.
Steven Katona, Daina Paulikas, Gregory S. Stone
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, Volume 18, Issue 3, May 2022, Pages 634-654, https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.4554
Key Points
- By eliminating emissions from fossil-fuel combustion, transition to a renewably powered economy is key to mitigating climate change, but there is only a short window, probably less than 10 years, to accomplish it.
- The renewable transition will require hundreds of millions of tons of new metals, and because demand reduction, recycling, and material substitutions cannot scale quickly enough, meeting that demand will require primary metals from land ores or deep-sea deposits.
- Whether or not to use deep-sea metals has important ethical implications and should not be a yes-or-no decision, but instead an inclusive and ethically purposeful effort to weigh scientific information, risks, and benefits associated with the two sources.
- The overall objective should be policies, decisions, regulations, and agreements that produce the fewest negative impacts on climate, air, water, land, ocean, people, nature, and species, while also providing the most broadly equitable suite of benefits across those categories.
- By eliminating emissions from fossil-fuel combustion, transition to a renewably powered economy is key to mitigating climate change, but there is only a short window, probably less than 10 years, to accomplish it.
- The renewable transition will require hundreds of millions of tons of new metals, and because demand reduction, recycling, and material substitutions cannot scale quickly enough, meeting that demand will require primary metals from land ores or deep-sea deposits.
- Whether or not to use deep-sea metals has important ethical implications and should not be a yes-or-no decision, but instead an inclusive and ethically purposeful effort to weigh scientific information, risks, and benefits associated with the two sources.
- The overall objective should be policies, decisions, regulations, and agreements that produce the fewest negative impacts on climate, air, water, land, ocean, people, nature, and species, while also providing the most broadly equitable suite of benefits across those categories.
Jennifer T. Le, Lisa A. Levin, Franck Lejzerowicz, Tristan Cordier, Andrew J. Gooday, Jan Pawlowski
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, Volume 18, Issue 3, May 2022, Pages 655-663, https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.4466
Key Points
- For meiofauna in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, morphology-based taxonomy is less cost-effective than metabarcoding, but offers scientific advantages, such as the generation of density, biomass, and size structure data.
- An approach that combines morphological and molecular methods is comparable in cost to morphology-based taxonomy alone, and may be necessary during initial environmental assessment.
- Ultimately, metabarcoding may allow for long-term environmental monitoring in deep-sea systems that are (1) undersampled and data-limited; (2) not easily accessible; or (3) dominated by meiofauna-sized taxa.
- For meiofauna in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, morphology-based taxonomy is less cost-effective than metabarcoding, but offers scientific advantages, such as the generation of density, biomass, and size structure data.
- An approach that combines morphological and molecular methods is comparable in cost to morphology-based taxonomy alone, and may be necessary during initial environmental assessment.
- Ultimately, metabarcoding may allow for long-term environmental monitoring in deep-sea systems that are (1) undersampled and data-limited; (2) not easily accessible; or (3) dominated by meiofauna-sized taxa.
Amanda Reichelt-Brushett, Judi Hewitt, Stefanie Kaiser, Rakhyun E. Kim, Ray Wood
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, Volume 18, Issue 3, May 2022, Pages 664-673, https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.4509
Key Points
- The development of deep-sea mining requires a considered balance between the needs of society for mineral resources, the protection of ecosystems that are poorly understood, and confidence that local communities will not bear the social costs of poor or misunderstood implementation and management.
- Standard ecotoxicity tests using a few species need to be adapted to develop tests that assess risks to ecosystem structure and function using species that are valued by local communities in the South Pacific, and relevant to locations of proposed deep seabed mining.
- A fully accessible shared database of deep-sea knowledge including biodiversity, habitat structure, and ecosystem services should be available to all stakeholders.
- The new modeling method can be applied elsewhere to prepare for the adverse effects of rain following a bushfire by minimizing sediment in runoffs.
- The development of deep-sea mining requires a considered balance between the needs of society for mineral resources, the protection of ecosystems that are poorly understood, and confidence that local communities will not bear the social costs of poor or misunderstood implementation and management.
- Standard ecotoxicity tests using a few species need to be adapted to develop tests that assess risks to ecosystem structure and function using species that are valued by local communities in the South Pacific, and relevant to locations of proposed deep seabed mining.
- A fully accessible shared database of deep-sea knowledge including biodiversity, habitat structure, and ecosystem services should be available to all stakeholders.
- The new modeling method can be applied elsewhere to prepare for the adverse effects of rain following a bushfire by minimizing sediment in runoffs.
Jayden Hyman, Rodney A Stewart, Oz Sahin
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, Volume 18, Issue 3, May 2022, Pages 674-681, https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.4395
Key Points
- Adaptive management is a suitable approach to addressing residual uncertainty for the effective environmental management of deep-seabed mining projects.
- Active adaptive management can be implemented in environmental management and monitoring plans to prioritize “learning by doing” and avoid “trial and error.”
- The paper introduces a conceptual framework for Systemic Adaptive Management (SAM), a systems approach to the implementation of adaptive management in deep-seabed mining projects.
- Participatory modeling is highlighted as a method to operationalize SAM whereby stakeholders are engaged to build complex system models to support decision making under uncertainty.
- Adaptive management is a suitable approach to addressing residual uncertainty for the effective environmental management of deep-seabed mining projects.
- Active adaptive management can be implemented in environmental management and monitoring plans to prioritize “learning by doing” and avoid “trial and error.”
- The paper introduces a conceptual framework for Systemic Adaptive Management (SAM), a systems approach to the implementation of adaptive management in deep-seabed mining projects.
- Participatory modeling is highlighted as a method to operationalize SAM whereby stakeholders are engaged to build complex system models to support decision making under uncertainty.
Sabine Gollner, Matthias Haeckel, Felix Janssen, Nene Lefaible, Massimiliano Molari, Stavroula Papadopoulou, Gert-Jan Reichart, João Trabucho Alexandre, Annemiek Vink, Ann Vanreusel
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, Volume 18, Issue 3, May 2022, Pages 682-696, https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.4541
Key Points
- Adverse effects on benthic communities as expected from deep-seabed polymetallic nodule mining call for the application of the mitigation hierarchy—including restoration measures once feasibility and positive effects have been proven.
- We initiated long-term restoration experiments at sites in polymetallic nodule exploration contract areas in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone that were (i) cleared of nodules by a preprototype mining vehicle, (ii) disturbed by dredge or sledge, (iii) undisturbed, and (iv) naturally devoid of nodules.
- We deployed >2000 artificial ceramic nodules to study the possible effect of substrate provision on recovery of biota and its impact on sediment biogeochemistry, and loosened sediment with a metal rake to test the feasibility of sediment decompaction to facilitate soft-sediment recovery.
- Due to expected slow recovery rates and the need for detailed characterization of baseline conditions, we expect to gain conclusive knowledge on long-term adverse effects of nodule removal and on the effectiveness of restoration measures in the next 30 years.
- Adverse effects on benthic communities as expected from deep-seabed polymetallic nodule mining call for the application of the mitigation hierarchy—including restoration measures once feasibility and positive effects have been proven.
- We initiated long-term restoration experiments at sites in polymetallic nodule exploration contract areas in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone that were (i) cleared of nodules by a preprototype mining vehicle, (ii) disturbed by dredge or sledge, (iii) undisturbed, and (iv) naturally devoid of nodules.
- We deployed >2000 artificial ceramic nodules to study the possible effect of substrate provision on recovery of biota and its impact on sediment biogeochemistry, and loosened sediment with a metal rake to test the feasibility of sediment decompaction to facilitate soft-sediment recovery.
- Due to expected slow recovery rates and the need for detailed characterization of baseline conditions, we expect to gain conclusive knowledge on long-term adverse effects of nodule removal and on the effectiveness of restoration measures in the next 30 years.
