Abstract
Abstract. Ecosystem health assessment (EHA) is one of the most important aspects in ecosystem management. Nowadays, ecological environment of mining cities is facing various problems. In this study, through ecosystem health theory and remote sensing images in 2005, 2009 and 2013, landscape pattern analysis and Vigor-Organization-Resilience (VOR) model were applied to set up an evaluation index system of ecosystem health of mining city to assess the healthy level of ecosystem in Panji District Huainan city. Results showed a temporal stable but high spatial heterogeneity landscape pattern during 2005–2013. According to the regional ecosystem health index, it experienced a rapid decline after a slight increase, and finally it maintained at an ordinary level. Among these areas, a significant distinction was presented in different towns. It indicates that the ecosystem health of Tianjijiedao town, the regional administrative centre, descended rapidly during the study period, and turned into the worst level in the study area. While the Hetuan Town, located in the northwestern suburb area of Panji District, stayed on a relatively better level than other towns. The impacts of coal mining collapse area, land reclamation on the landscape pattern and ecosystem health status of mining cities were also discussed. As a result of underground coal mining, land subsidence has become an inevitable problem in the study area. In addition, the coal mining subsidence area has brought about the destruction of the farmland, construction land and water bodies, which causing the change of the regional landscape pattern and making the evaluation of ecosystem health in mining area more difficult. Therefore, this study provided an ecosystem health approach for relevant departments to make scientific decisions.
Highlights
Researches on ecosystem health assessment(EHA) have been in a continuous hot discussion in recent years (Zhou et al, 2012), for it played increasingly important role of support and reference in environmental management (Kang et al, 2002; Costanza, 2012; Yan et al, 2016)
This study focuses on analyzing the ecosystem health in the mining area response to landscape pattern, using the VOR model
This paper analyzed ecosystem health response to landscape pattern in the Panji District of Huainan city during 2005-2013, and the ecosystem health dimensions associated with the indicators of ecosystem vigor, organization, and resilience
Summary
Researches on ecosystem health assessment(EHA) have been in a continuous hot discussion in recent years (Zhou et al, 2012), for it played increasingly important role of support and reference in environmental management (Kang et al, 2002; Costanza, 2012; Yan et al, 2016). Most of the discussions were analyzed at a systematical scale rather than regional scale In this case, the human needs and the spatial adjacency impacts of landscape patterns on ecosystem health are ignored (Peng et al, 2015). This study focuses on analyzing the ecosystem health in the mining area response to landscape pattern, using the VOR model. Our objectives are to (1) apply landscape indices to identify the local variations in landscape pattern as well as their changes; (2) employ VOR model to analyze the ecosystem health change in the study area during 2005-2013; and (3) explore the influence of mining activities on the regional landscape pattern and ecosystem health in mining cities
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
