Abstract
The Qin-Ba Ecological Functional Zone is a component of China’s ecological security pattern designed to protect the regional ecosystem and maintain biodiversity. However, due to the impact of mining and urban encroachment, the plight of a sustainable ecosystem in the Qin-Ba mountainous area is deteriorating. This paper has used a remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) to examine the impacts of mining and urban encroachment on the environment in the Qin-Ba mountainous area. The results indicate that the total mined area in 2013 was 22 km2 and is predicted to escalate. Results also show that the ecosystems in Fengxian County, Shaanxi Province and Baokang County, Hubei Province were most severely affected by mining. Urbanization in the Qin-Ba mountainous area has seen an increase of 85.58 km2 in urban land use from 2010 to 2013. In addition, infrastructure development including airport construction, tourism resorts and real estate development in the Qin-Ba mountainous area has intensified environmental and biodiversity disturbances since large areas of forest have been cleared. Our results should provide insight and assistance to city planners and government officials in making informed decisions.
Highlights
Human activities including land development ranging from farming, grazing, logging, infrastructure construction, nature conservation and utilization are affecting the environment and biodiversity [1,2]
The study revealed that coal mining in Wuhai, China resulted in the degradation of the ecological environment from 1979 to 2010 [11]
Remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technologies were used to monitor the impact of two important land development activities: mining and urban expansion on the ecological environment in the Qin-Ba mountainous area from 2010 to 2013
Summary
Human activities including land development ranging from farming, grazing, logging, infrastructure construction, nature conservation and utilization are affecting the environment and biodiversity [1,2]. Remote sensing and GIS technologies were used to monitor the impact of two important land development activities: mining and urban expansion on the ecological environment in the Qin-Ba mountainous area from 2010 to 2013. This approach has been used in various studies including land use change analysis in the Zhujiang Delta of China [21,22]. This will benefit other stakeholders in developing proper land utilization and management plan for the area
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