Abstract

Some of the many mining operations that exist in northern Chile dispose their mine tailings directly into the sea. Little is known about the effects of these tailings on shallow rocky subtidal communities. This study reports these effects for an iron ore pelletization plant that has discharged for ca. 23 years in the intertidal of a cove on the exposed rocky coast of northern Chile, generating high turbidity in the water column and deposit of sediments on the bottom. A nonparametric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) ordination analysis for the species of the rocky subtidal communities, based on the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index, showed great differences, the affected communities being dominated by incrusting invertebrates, whereas the unaffected areas at the same depth had kelp beds. The effects were observed only close to the discharge and were not observed in the more shallow water communities, which in affected and unaffected areas consisted of barren grounds dominated by calcareous algae and sea urchins. The effect on the vertical zonation pattern of communities did not produce differences in the effective diversity, which turned out to be similar among affected and control sites. This occurred because of the replacement, more than the elimination, of species on affected sites. This type of study, in which information is generally maintained in reports only seen by industry and governments, needs to be published to contribute to a more comprehensive database for the improvement of decision-making processes regarding coastal subtidal rocky communities and the effects of human activities on these environments.