Evaluation of Ecological Stability in Semi-Arid Open-Pit Coal Mining Area Based on Structure and Function Coupling during 2002–2017

Xiaoguang Lu,Chuangang Gong,Zhengfu Bian,Xinhui Li,Yibo Zhao,Shaogang Lei,Ying Liu,Hang Chen

doi:10.3390/rs13245040

Abstract

Open-pit coal mining plays an important role in supporting national economic development; however, it has caused ecological problems and even seriously impacted regional ecological stability. Given the importance of maintaining ecological stability in semi-arid coal mining areas, this study used a coupling coordination degree approach based on the structural and functional state transition model (SFSTM) to evaluate the spatio–temporal variation of ecological stability from 2002 to 2017 by using MODIS and Landsat datasets in the semi-arid open-pit coal mining area. Besides, random points were created for different ecological stability levels (containing natural areas, coal mining areas, and reclamation areas) and segment linear regression was conducted to determine the structural change threshold for negative state transitions based on mining and positive state transitions based on reclamation. Furthermore, the impact factors of ecological stability were analyzed. Results showed that ecological stability fluctuated significantly over 16 years, showing a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. It was found that precipitation and temperature were the key natural factors affecting ecological stability, and mining activities constituted the dominant factor. The average perturbation distances to ecological stability from mining activities in the west, southwest, and east mining groups were 7500, 5500, and 8000 m, respectively. SFSTM is appliable to the coal mining ecosystem. Quantitative models of ecological stability response can help resolve ambiguity about management efficacy and the ecological stability results facilitate iterative updating of knowledge by using monitoring data from coal mining areas. Moreover, the proposed ecological structural threshold provides a useful early warning tool, which can aid in the reduction of ecosystem uncertainty and avoid reverse transformations of the positive state in the coal mining areas.

Highlights

Introduction distributed under the terms andConsidering rapid mining scale expansion and its environmental impact, environmental management after mining has become important [1]
Ecological stability was selected as an index to measure the state of the system, and ecological stability evaluation became the standard for environmental management after mining
It is necessary to study the ecological stability of coal mining areas by coupling structural and functional variables related to mining ecosystems and reclamation practices

Summary

Introduction

Introduction distributed under the terms andConsidering rapid mining scale expansion and its environmental impact, environmental management after mining has become important [1]. It is necessary to establish standards to guide environmental management in post-mining areas. A mining area, which constitutes a dynamic system, is an important part of an ecosystem. Coal mine exploitation of has caused a series of environmental problems, such as vegetation degradation [4], soil erosion [5], heavy metal pollution [6], ground subsidence [7], degradation of natural resources, and threat to biodiversity, which can further change ecological structure and function, eventually affecting ecological stability in the coal mining area. Ecological stability was selected as an index to measure the state of the system, and ecological stability evaluation became the standard for environmental management after mining

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion