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Aims <p>Active ecological restoration is widely applied in post-mining areas to deliver biodiversity and ecosystem function benefits. We hypothesize that active restoration preferentially enhances biogeochemical functions over biodiversity, and this decoupled recovery is strongly mediated by environmental context.</p> Methods <p>Through global meta-analysis, we used 5913 paired observations from 146 peer-reviewed studies to assess how delivery of 31 ecological metrics compares across active restoration and natural regeneration/undisturbed habitat in post-mining areas.</p> Results <p>The results revealed that active restoration yielded divergent outcomes when compared to both natural regeneration and undisturbed habitat. On aggregate, active restoration demonstrated much stronger advantage in providing biogeochemical functions (<i>RR</i><sub>++</sub>  = 0.40) but extremely mediocre performance in biodiversity (<i>RR</i><sub>++</sub>  = 0.08) compared with natural regeneration. Specifically, benefits of plant density, soil carbon stock and soil microbial carbon were delivered much better by active restoration. The relative performance was mediated by restoration age, mine type, climate type and regional variation. Mid-life (10–20&#xa0;years old) active restoration fields enhanced biogeochemical functions, while older fields (&gt; 30&#xa0;years old) supported higher biodiversity. Notably, active restoration in metal mining areas outperformed even undisturbed habitats for biodiversity. Although active restoration provided stronger benefits for biodiversity and function in wetter or warmer climates, its performance gap relative to undisturbed habitats was unexpectedly larger in humid/semi-humid regions.</p> Conclusions <p>Our findings demonstrate that post-mining active restoration drives context-dependent and decoupled recovery of biodiversity and biogeochemical functions. Incorporating restoration age, mine type, and climatic conditions into restoration planning is essential for balancing long-term biodiversity and functional recovery.</p>

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A global meta-analysis reveals context-dependent decoupled recovery between biodiversity and functions in post-mining restoration

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月3日

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  • Chao Su,
  • Tianyu Liu,
  • Sanping Ma,
  • Qiufeng Xu,
  • Ruoyu Liang,
  • Danfeng Zheng

摘要

Aims

Active ecological restoration is widely applied in post-mining areas to deliver biodiversity and ecosystem function benefits. We hypothesize that active restoration preferentially enhances biogeochemical functions over biodiversity, and this decoupled recovery is strongly mediated by environmental context.

Methods

Through global meta-analysis, we used 5913 paired observations from 146 peer-reviewed studies to assess how delivery of 31 ecological metrics compares across active restoration and natural regeneration/undisturbed habitat in post-mining areas.

Results

The results revealed that active restoration yielded divergent outcomes when compared to both natural regeneration and undisturbed habitat. On aggregate, active restoration demonstrated much stronger advantage in providing biogeochemical functions (RR++  = 0.40) but extremely mediocre performance in biodiversity (RR++  = 0.08) compared with natural regeneration. Specifically, benefits of plant density, soil carbon stock and soil microbial carbon were delivered much better by active restoration. The relative performance was mediated by restoration age, mine type, climate type and regional variation. Mid-life (10–20 years old) active restoration fields enhanced biogeochemical functions, while older fields (> 30 years old) supported higher biodiversity. Notably, active restoration in metal mining areas outperformed even undisturbed habitats for biodiversity. Although active restoration provided stronger benefits for biodiversity and function in wetter or warmer climates, its performance gap relative to undisturbed habitats was unexpectedly larger in humid/semi-humid regions.

Conclusions

Our findings demonstrate that post-mining active restoration drives context-dependent and decoupled recovery of biodiversity and biogeochemical functions. Incorporating restoration age, mine type, and climatic conditions into restoration planning is essential for balancing long-term biodiversity and functional recovery.