Unearthing the global impact of mining construction minerals on biodiversity

Abstract

Construction minerals – sand, gravel, limestone – are the most extracted solid raw materials1 and account for most of the world’s anthropogenic mass, which as of 2020 outweighed all of Earth’s living biomass2. However, knowledge about the magnitude, geography, and profile of this widespread threat to biodiversity remains scarce and scattered3–6. Combining long-term data from the IUCN Red List and new species descriptions we provide the first systematic evaluation of species threatened by mining of construction minerals globally. We found 1,047 species in the Red List impacted by this type of mining, of which 58.5% are threatened with extinction and four species already went extinct. We also identified 234 new species descriptions in 20 biodiversity hotspots reporting impacts from mining. Temporal trends in the assessments highlight the increased saliency of this threat to biodiversity, whose full extent may well reach over 24,000 animal and plant species. While rock quarrying mostly threatens karst biodiversity and narrow-ranged species, sand and gravel extraction is a more prominent threat to freshwater and coastal systems. This study provides the first evidence base to support a global strategy to limit the biodiversity impacts of construction mineral extraction.