In a context of increasing anthropogenic disturbance and land degradation being a key factor in the biodiversity decline, the 2020-2030 decade was declared as the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Understanding post-disturbance ecological successions makes it possible to consider the various possible trajectories during rehabilitation. In addition having more information about dynamics in an ecological restoration context remains critical. 

Time since disturbance and habitat characteristics are environmental filters that influence the dynamics of community succession. These two factors rule the coexistence of species. A better understanding of the mechanisms of succession along the gradient of years since disturbance is possible by determining the importance of the age of the environment and the local habitat. Our study aims to understand the direct and indirect impact of time since rehabilitation on the dynamics of animal communities following a disturbance. Our study models are alluvial quarries, which after exploitation follow a succession dynamic. Quarries profoundly alter the landscape and habitat : the organic soil has been removed, the original topography changed, and hydrological regimes could have been perturbed, leading to the creation of novel ecosystems. The ecological succession which follows can then be assisted by rehabilitation. 

The study focused on the successional dynamics of 3 taxonomic groups: birds, bats and butterflies. For each group, three indicators of community structure were tested: species richness, the Pielou evenness index and an indicator of community specialization.

We used the 15 years of standardized biodiversity monitoring data from the ROSELIERE programme. We selected 38 alluvial quarries in the northern half of France, enabling us to obtain a temporal gradient after rehabilitation ranging from before exploitation to 30 years after disturbance. To test the effect of quarrying, we used a categorical time variable. We then used a continuous time variable (ie : time since rehabilitation) and Structural Equation Modeling to detect the direct and indirect impact of time since rehabilitation on the selected community structure indices. 

Our results show a differentiated effect of time since disturbance between taxa, as well as a direct effect and an effect of time mediated by the local habitat on the duration since rehabilitation. These differences in response are then discussed in relation to the challenges of alluvial quarry rehabilitation.