Ecological Restoration Of Mining Areas Research Articles

Biochar Organic Fertilizer Combined with Indigenous Microorganisms Enhances the Growth of Landscape Grass Cultivated in a Substrate Mixed with Iron Tailings and Mining Topsoil.

Iron tailings from the mining process occupy vast land areas and pose a significant ecological risk. In order to reuse iron tailings resources and carry out in situ ecological restoration of a mine, in this study, a medium of mixed iron tailings and mining topsoil (m:m = 3:1) was used to plant landscape grasses, including Lolium perenne L. (L. perenne), Pennisetum alopecuroides (L.) Spreng. (P. alopecuroides), Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam. (M. officinalis), and Medicago sativa L. (M. sativa). Biochar and chicken manure were used as biochar organic fertilizers and indigenous microorganisms were isolated from the rhizosphere soil of tested grasses. They were applied to enhance landscape grass growth by regulating rhizosphere microbial communities and nutrient conditions. The results showed that the biochar organic fertilizers significantly promoted the growth of the four landscape grasses, notably P. alopecuroides, increasing plant height, root length, root weight, and leaf fresh weight by 169%, 60%, 211%, and 388%, respectively. Additionally, L. perenne exhibited the greatest height increase (10%) following the application of bacterial solutions. Moreover, indigenous bacterial solutions enhanced chlorophyll content and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity, with P. alopecuroides showing the highest chlorophyll increase of 58% and M. sativa exhibiting a 30.58% rise in PAL activity. The biochar organic fertilizer also significantly elevated soluble protein content in P. alopecuroides and M. sativa by 195% and 152%, respectively. It also effectively enhanced peroxidase (POD) activity in Poaceae grasses by 120% to 160%. After adding indigenous microorganisms, the rhizosphere soil of the landscape grass showed the highest Shannon-Wiener diversity index, reaching 3.561. The rhizosphere soil of M. officinalis had the highest microbial richness, with a value of 39. Additionally, the addition of indigenous microorganisms increased the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content of the four plants by 8-19%, 6-14%, and 8-18%, respectively. This study offers a new approach for managing mining waste and ecological restoration in mining areas.

Assessing the true value of ecological restoration in mining areas: An input-output approach based on ecosystem service valuation

Historical unsustainable mining activities have led to significant ecological degradation, emphasizing the importance and urgency of ecological restoration and its effectiveness assessment. This study evaluates the economic, ecological, and social benefits of ecological restoration in the Longshan mining area from the perspective of ecological product value, utilizing an input–output research framework based on ecosystem service valuation. This comprehensive assessment includes consideration of restoration cost inputs, aiming to delve into the effectiveness of ecological restoration projects in mining areas. The findings reveal: (1) The indirect value of the ecological products generated by the ecological restoration is approximately 3.13 times greater than their direct value, highlighting the significantly positive impacts of the project. This underscores the necessity for future assessments of mining area ecological restoration projects to not only focus on direct economic returns but also to thoroughly examine their long-term positive impacts on social structures, environmental quality, and residents’ quality of life. (2) When considered solely from an economic benefit perspective, the input–output ratio of the project is 0.34, insufficient to cover the total cost of the project. However, after integrating economic, ecological, and social benefits, the input–output ratio increases to 1.40. This indicates the importance of exploring the mechanisms through which the indirect values of ecological and social benefits contribute directly to the project’s economic sustainability.

Analysis of geological disaster management and ecological restoration measures in mining engineering

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the current effective measures for managing geological disasters and ecological damage caused by mining engineering development. The discussion primarily focuses on two aspects: engineering technology and ecological management. It is clear that slope stabilization technology, drainage and waterproof system construction, vegetation restoration, and artificial humidity construction play active roles in the management of geological disasters and ecological restoration in mining areas. These measures not only effectively control geological disasters but also significantly improve the ecological environment, enhance the self-recovery capacity of regional ecosystems, and achieve harmonious development of society, economy, and environment.

Enriched rhizospheric functional microbiome may enhance adaptability of Artemisia lavandulaefolia and Betula luminifera in antimony mining areas.

Dominant native plants are crucial for vegetation reconstruction and ecological restoration of mining areas, though their adaptation mechanisms in stressful environments are unclear. This study focuses on the interactions between dominant indigenous species in antimony (Sb) mining area, Artemisia lavandulaefolia and Betula luminifera, and the microbes in their rhizosphere. The rhizosphere microbial diversity and potential functions of both plants were analyzed through the utilization of 16S, ITS sequencing, and metabarcoding analysis. The results revealed that soil environmental factors, rather than plant species, had a more significant impact on the composition of the rhizosphere microbial community. Soil pH and moisture significantly affected microbial biomarkers and keystone species. Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Acidobacteriota, exhibited high resistance to Sb and As, and played a crucial role in the cycling of carbon, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and sulfur (S). The genes participating in N, P, and S cycling exhibited metabolic coupling with those genes associated with Sb and As resistance, which might have enhanced the rhizosphere microbes' capacity to endure environmental stressors. The enrichment of these rhizosphere functional microbes is the combined result of dispersal limitations and deterministic assembly processes. Notably, the genes related to quorum sensing, the type III secretion system, and chemotaxis systems were significantly enriched in the rhizosphere of plants, especially in B. luminifera, in the mining area. The phylogenetic tree derived from the evolutionary relationships among rhizosphere microbial and chloroplast whole-genome resequencing results, infers both species especially B. luminifera, may have undergone co-evolution with rhizosphere microorganisms in mining areas. These findings offer valuable insights into the dominant native rhizosphere microorganisms that facilitate plant adaptation to environmental stress in mining areas, thereby shedding light on potential strategies for ecological restoration in such environments.

Impacts of mining on vegetation phenology and sensitivity assessment of spectral vegetation indices to mining activities in arid/semi-arid areas

Measuring the impact of mining activities on vegetation phenology and assessing the sensitivity of vegetation indices (VIs) to it are crucial for understanding land degradation in mining areas and enhancing the carbon sink capacity following the ecological restoration of mines. To this end, we have developed a novel technical framework to quantify the impact of mining activities on vegetation, and applied it to the Bainaimiao copper mining area in Inner Mongolia. Phenological indices are extracted based on the VI time series data of Sentinel-2, and changes in phenological differences in various directions are used to quantify the impact of mining activities on vegetation. Finally, indicators such as mean difference, standard deviation, index value distribution interval, and concentration of index value distribution were selected to assess the sensitivity of the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Green Chlorophyll Index (GCI), Global Environmental Monitoring Index (GEMI), Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GNDVI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Renormalized Difference Vegetation Index (RDVI), Red-Edge Chlorophyll Index (RECI), and Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) to mining activities. The results of the study show that the impact of mining activities on surrounding vegetation extends to an area three times larger than the actual mining activity area. When compared with the reference and unaffected areas, the affected area experienced a delay of approximately 10 days in seasonal vegetation development. Environmental pollution caused by the tailings pond was identified as the primary factor influencing this delay. Significant variations in the sensitivity of each VI to assess mining activities in arid/semi-arid areas were observed. Notably, GCI, GNDVI and RDVI displayed relatively high sensitivity to discrepancies in the spectral attributes of vegetation within the affected area, while SAVI reflected the overall spectral stability of the vegetation in the affected area. The research findings have the potential to provide valuable technical guidance for holistic environmental management in mining areas and hold great significance in preventing further land degradation and supporting ecological restoration in mining areas.

Ground subsidence monitoring in based on UAV-LiDAR technology: a case study of a mine in the Ordos, China

Ground subsidence in Western coal mining areas is characterized by rapid deformation, extensive damage, and a wide range of impacts. The conventional observation methods are inappropriate for surface damage monitoring in high-intensity mining areas of Western China. Therefore, it is a crucial problem to quickly, accurately, and comprehensively monitor the ground subsidence and environmental damage caused by high-intensity and large-scale mining. In this study, we propose a monitoring method for the ground subsidence of high-intensity mining with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Lidar (UAV-LiDAR) measurement technology. Taking a mine in Ordos of China as an example, the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is obtained by Kriging Interpolation of the ground point cloud from UAV-LiDAR. Then, the multi-stage DEM differential processing is employed to get ground subsidence. Finally, the median and bilateral filters combine for denoise to obtain the high-precision ground subsidence. The results show that the accuracy of the ground DEM generated by UAV-LiDAR is 15 mm and the mean square error of the ground subsidence basin is 39 mm. UAV-LiDAR technology can quickly obtain abundant surface data and obtain high-precision ground subsidence. Therefore, the application of this technology and method in subsidence monitoring in mining areas is feasible. And it can provide support for ecological environment monitoring, land reclamation, and ecological restoration in mining areas. The research results can provide a useful basis for monitoring the surface damage of coal mining in Western China.

Using unmanned aerial vehicle multispectral data for monitoring the outcomes of ecological restoration in mining areas

AbstractThe effective and efficient monitoring of revegetation outcomes is a key component of ecosystem restoration. Monitoring often involves labor‐intensive manual methods, which are difficult to deploy when sites are inaccessible or involve large areas of revegetation. This study aimed to identify plant species and quantify α‐diversity index on a sub‐meter scale at Manlailiang Mine Site in Northwestern China using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as a means to semiautomate large‐scale vegetation monitoring. UAVs equipped with multispectral sensors were combined with three industry‐standard supervised classification algorithms (support vector machine [SVM], maximum likelihood, and artificial neural network) to classify plant species. Spectral vegetation indices (normalized difference vegetation index [NDVI], difference vegetation index [DVI], visible‐band difference vegetation index, soil‐adjusted vegetation index, modified soil‐adjusted vegetation index, and excess green–excess red) were used to assess vegetation diversity obtained from on‐ground survey plot data (the Margalef, Pielou, Simpson, and Shannon–Wiener indices). Our results showed that SVM outperformed other algorithms in species identification accuracy (overall accuracy of 84%). Significant relationships were observed between vegetation indices and diversity indices, with the DVI performing significantly better than many more commonly used indices such as the NDVI. The findings highlight the potential of combining UAV multispectral data, spectral vegetation indices and ground surveys for effective and efficient fine‐scale monitoring of vegetation diversity in the ecological restoration of mining areas. This has significant practical benefits for improving adaptive management of restoration through improved monitoring tools.

Mapping mining-induced ground fissures and their evolution using UAV photogrammetry

Due to its unique geomorphological characteristics, the loess gully region is easy to produce ground fissures under the action of coal mining, destroy the ground infrastructures, induce geological disasters, and threaten the safety of people’s lives and property. Therefore, it is particularly important to accurately obtain information about the development of mining-induced ground fissures and study their spatial-temporal evolution mechanism. Based on the 1212 working face of a mining area in Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, this paper studies the extraction method and spatial-temporal evolution mechanism of ground fissures by combining remote sensing images and field survey data. The study shows that this proposed method significantly reduces noise points and mis-extraction, and the accuracy is more than 80%, improving the extraction accuracy of ground fissures and making the process more automated. By comparing the extraction accuracy of ground fissures at different flight altitudes, we determine that the optimal flight altitude for the research area is 60 m. At the beginning of the working face mining stage, the proportion of low-density areas of ground fissures continues to increase. Some low-density areas transition into high-density areas, which is consistent with the progress of the working face advancement. After the end of the working face retreat, the width of the ground fissures tends to be evenly distributed. The mining-induced ground fissures in the Loess gully and ravine region have good self-similarity. A dynamic development model of ground fissures is constructed to reveal its formation mechanism. The research conclusions can provide a technical support for geological disaster monitoring and land ecological restoration in mining areas.

A systematic review and comprehensive analysis on ecological restoration of mining areas in the arid region of China: Challenge, capability and reconsideration

The arid region in China with rich mineral resources are belongs to ecological fragile region with inadequate recovering capacity. Hundred years of continues mining of mineral resources for economic purposes, leads to the problem of land degradation caused by the spatial coupling of large-scale mining disturbance and arid fragile ecological environment. The environmental problems created by mining have not been addressed promptly, while at the same time, new problems have emerged. On the basis of our 20 years of practical experience on ecological restoration in mining areas, review and synthesis of selective literature, with interpretation and perspective, the mining situation and its ecological impacts, the factors impeding ecological restoration capability in the arid region in China were examined, the key challenges and promotion strategy were presented. The main findings of this study are as follows: Land degradation is the most prominent problem resulting in mining activities, and mainly reflected by immediate disturbance, long term effects and ecological degradation. The main challenges faced by mining area restoration in arid areas are unclear objectives of ecological restoration, lack of ecological water consumption, unreasonable selection of indigenous plants, serious land degradation and wide restoration area. Our restoration experiments in typical mining areas have proved that the micro-topography reconstruction measures can increase surface roughness, redistribute limited precipitation resources (especially snow), and make soil water and nutrients carried by surface runoff and collected in valleys to regulate soil infiltration and water supply, so as to achieve water-saving and non-irrigated vegetation restoration. The ideal restoration effects are the improvement of vegetation coverage, the increase of available land resources, and the improvement of ecosystem services in mining areas. This study would be helpful to carried out related implementation on ecological restoration and could act as a valuable reference for the researchers involved in the ecological restoration in arid region.

Progress of Mine Land Reclamation and Ecological Restoration Research Based on Bibliometric Analysis

The mining of mineral resources has caused serious damage to land and significant pressure on ecological environment. During the repairing of damaged land and degraded ecosystems, there have been many pieces of literature related to land reclamation and ecological restoration (LRER) that have emerged. To understand the progress and prospect of LRER research, it is necessary to sort out such pieces of literature, analyze the current research status, and forecast the future research directions. Here, Bibliometrix R-package was used to analyze 2357 articles, which were derived from the core database of Web of Science, to explore the development of LRER from 1990 to 2022. The results are as follows. (1) The annual scientific output results show that both the number of articles published on LRER and the number of articles annually citied were increasing gradually from 1990 to 2022. (2) High-frequency keyword analysis indicates that heavy metal (Cd, Pb) pollution remediation is a research hotspot. The cluster analysis (CA) and multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) show that there are two clusters in the current research of LRER, in which one surrounds heavy metal pollution and the other focuses on ecological restoration of mining areas. The two clusters correspond to the remediation and ecological restoration (rehabilitation) stages of stepwise ecological restoration, respectively. Thematic evolution analysis shows that, for more than 30 years, mine drainage and heavy metal pollution treatment, soil reconstruction (soil profile reconstruction, soil improvement), and vegetation restoration have been the focus of research. (3) Future research should focus on the relationship between mine ecological restoration and carbon sequestration and the relationship between ecological restoration and biodiversity in mine areas. In addition, LRER technology exchange, international cooperation, and industrialization are also main directions of development. Generally, in this study, metrology software (Bibliometrix R-package 3.1.4) from the literature was used to sort out the relevant literature on LRER over the past 30 years so as to provide reference for future research on LRER.

Influence of the freeze–thaw process on coal gangue–based ecological restoration materials: performance and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals

Materials made from coal gangue (CGEr) can be used for ecological restoration in mining areas. This paper comprehensively analyzed the influence of the freeze-thaw process on the performance of CGEr and the environmental risk of heavy metals. The safety of CGEr was assessed by sediment quality guidelines (SQGs), geological accumulation index (Igeo), potential ecological risk index (RI), and risk assessment code (RAC). The freeze-thaw process reduced the performance of CGEr, that the water retention of CGEr decreased from 1.07 (g water/g soil) to 0.78 (g water/g soil), and the loss rate of soil and water increased from 1.07 to 4.30%. The freeze-thaw process reduced the ecological risk of CGEr, the Igeo of Cd and Zn decreased from 1.14 to 0.13 and 0.53 to 0.3, respectively, and the RI of Cd decreased by 50% from 0.297 to 0.147. Reaction experiments and correlation analysis showed that the freeze-thaw process destroyed the pore structure of the material, resulting in the degradation of its properties. Water molecules undergo phase transformation during freeze-thaw, and particles were squeezed by ice crystals to form agglomerates. The formation of granular aggregates resulted in the enrichment of heavy metals in the aggregates. Influenced by the freeze-thaw process, specific functional groups such as -OH were more exposed on the surface of the material, which affected the occurrence form of heavy metals and thus reduced the potential ecological risk of the material. This study provides an important basis for the better application of ecological restoration materials of CGEr.

Effect of Coal Mining on Soil Microorganisms from Stipa krylovii Rhizosphere in Typical Grassland.

The environmental changes caused by coal mining activities caused disturbances to the plant, soil, and microbial health in the mining area. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play an important role in the ecological restoration of mining areas. However, it is less understood how soil fungal communities with multiple functional groups respond to coal mining, and the quantitative impact and risk of mining disturbance. Therefore, in this study, the effect of coal mining on soil microorganisms' composition and diversity were analyzed near the edge of an opencast coal-mine dump in the Shengli mining area, Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia. The response strategy of soil fungi to coal mining and the stability of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in the soil fungal community were determined. Our results showed that coal mining affected AMF and soil fungi in areas within 900 m from the coal mine. The abundance of endophytes increased with the distance between sampling sites and the mine dump, whereas the abundance of saprotroph decreased with the distance between sampling sites and the mine dump. Saprotroph was the dominant functional flora near the mining area. The nodes percentage of Septoglomus and Claroideoglomus and AMF phylogenetic diversity near the mining area were highest. AMF responded to the mining disturbance via the variety and evolution strategy of flora. Furthermore, AMF and soil fungal communities were significantly correlated with edaphic properties and parameters. Soil available phosphorus (AP) was the main influencer of soil AMF and fungal communities. These findings evaluated the risk range of coal mining on AMF and soil fungal communities and elucidated the microbial response strategy to mining disturbance.

Seasonal and spatial variations in soil biochemical properties in areas with different degrees of mining subsidence in Central China

Land subsidence due to underground mining results in soil nutrient loss and reduced soil fertility. Land reclamation, which refers to the improvement of soil nutrients through targeted measures, requires spatial and temporal distribution information on the soil properties. However, this has not yet been studied. Therefore, the spatial autocorrelation of soil chemical and biological properties was examined in the Pingdingshan coal mining area during four seasons in China from 80 collected and analyzed soil samples. The spatial autocorrelation was determined by the global and local Moran’s indices. Spatial clustering and variability were analyzed with ArcGIS 10.2 (Environmental Systems Research Institute, ESRI, USA) and GeoDa 7.0 software (Center for Spatial Data Science in University of Chicago, USA). Soil pH and the soil total carbon (TC) content, soil total nitrogen (TN) content, soil available phosphorus (AP) content, and soil alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen (AN) content were measured as soil chemical properties. The soil biological properties included the quantities of bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi. The soil chemical and biological properties showed a strong spatial autocorrelation during the four seasons. “High-high” and “low-low” were the dominant autocorrelation types that were distributed in serious and light subsidence areas. The soil properties decreased as the mining subsidence degree increased. Both the soil TC and soil AP contents were highest in spring, the soil TN content was highest in autumn, and the soil AN content was highest in summer. These results provide a reliable theoretical reference for land reclamation and ecological restoration in mining areas.

Evaluation Study of Ecological Resilience in Southern Red Soil Mining Areas Considering Rare Earth Mining Process

Ion-adsorption rare earth mining areas are located in southern China’s ecologically fragile red soil hills region. For a long time, under the influence of multiple factors such as low mining technology and indiscriminate mining, this area has experienced serious environmental problems. Therefore, it is crucial for the ecological management and restoration of mining areas to accurately conduct a quantitative evaluation of ecological restoration status. We used remote sensing and geographic information data to establish an ecosystem resilience evaluation index system consisting of five criteria (land stress, vegetation conditions, surface conditions, biodiversity, and air pollution) and 17 evaluation factors. The Lingbei rare earth mining area in Dingnan County in the red soil hill region was used as a case study since it is a representative ion adsorption rare earth mining area. The restoration status of the mining area was evaluated from 2000 to 2020. The results showed the following: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the ecological resilience level of the mining area was 0.695, 0.685, 0.664, 0.651, and 0.657, exhibiting a decrease followed by an increase. (2) Spatially, the ecological resilience was low at the mine site and increased with increasing distance, indicating that rare earth mining adversely affected ecological resilience in the mining area. (3) The regional ecological resilience has improved over time due to the implementation of green development policies. However, the rate of improvement is slow and ecological restoration of mining areas will remain an ongoing challenge in the future. This study can provide a scientific basis and practical reference for the ecological protection and restoration of mining areas.

Effects of Mining on Urban Environmental Change: A Case Study of Panzhihua

The environment supplies water, land, biological resources, and climate resources for people’s daily life and development, dramatically affecting the subsistence and development of human beings. Panzhihua City is a representative resource-based industrial city of southwestern China. The abundant mineral resources provide the material basis for the city’s development. However, while the overdevelopment of the past decades has provided the preconditions for its rapid economic growth, it has also inevitably had a huge impact on its environmental quality and land use structure. In this study, the landsat remote sensing images, terrain data, socio-economic data, and mining resources exploitation data of Panzhihua were used to extract the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), NDBSI (Normalized Difference Build and Soil Index) and LST (Land Surface Temperature) of the past 20 years at 5-year intervals. We normalized four indicators by Principal Component Analysis to derive a remote sensing ecological index of each factor and build the Remote Sensing-based Ecological Index evaluation model. This research quantified the changes in environmental quality in the past 20 years through the range method, showing that the environmental quality of Panzhihua City first declined and then increased slowly. This research also analyzed the influence of land use types, terrain, mining area, and socio-economy on the environmental quality of Panzhihua City by grey relational analysis and buffer analysis. It is found that with the influence of its unique topographical factors and economic aspects, the environmental quality of Panzhihua City changed to varying degrees. The results provide a reliable basis for the future environmental planning of Panzhihua City and a reference for the ecological restoration of mining areas with different mineral species accurately.

Ecological Management and Land Rehabilitation in Mining Areas from the Perspective of Actor-Network Theory—A Case Study of Lizuizi Coal Mine in China

Ecological damage in mining areas largely affects the regional ecological environment and ecological security. In China, ecological restoration in mining areas is urgent, as its environmental protection lags behind economic and social development. Recent studies on environmental governance in China focus on each participant’s logic of action. It suggests that cooperation among each participant is important. Thus, a fundamental question arises: how can we effectively organize various actors in environmental governance? Unlike theories that focus only on human factors, the actor-network theory considers both human and non-human actors. Within the framework of ANT, ecological restoration governance can take good care of both people and nature. To the best of our knowledge, the actor-network theory has not been used to analyze ecological restoration and land rehabilitation in mining areas. In this paper, the Lizuizi Coal Mine in Huainan of China is taken as a research object. By using the actor-network theory, we analyze the stability of the actor network and governance problems in different stages of ecological restoration of Lizuizi Coal Mine. It is concluded that the participation of the residents in ecological restoration is insufficient, and should be improved. Suggestions are provided accordingly. Our paper provides a theory basis for ecological construction in other ecologically damaged areas and resource-based cities. Further in-depth studies are necessary to strengthen the participation of social forces and the bundling collection of interests in governance.

Research Progress of Land Reclamation in Mining Areas in China

The ecological environment of mining area is an important problem that affects the sustainable development of mining area and regional ecological security. The mining industry has promoted the global economic development, but also caused a series of ecological degradation. Ecological restoration of mining areas has become an urgent problem for all countries in the world. This paper expounds the research technology and development trend of ecological restoration in mining areas in China, and looks forward to the ecological restoration in mining areas in the future, which will provide reference for the ecological restoration of mining land reclamation in the future.

Land Use Dynamic Evolution and Driving Factors of Typical Open-Pit Coal Mines in Inner Mongolia.

Although coal is difficult to replace in the short term, the large-scale production and consumption of coal have significant impacts on the ecological environment. The severe disturbances, such as land excavation and occupation, that accompany the mining of mineral resources have caused dramatic changes in land cover and a significant pressure on the sensitive and fragile ecological environment. To analyze the temporal and spatial evolution trends and the differences in land use in different typical mining areas in Inner Mongolia, as well as the evaluation system and driving mechanisms of land use evolution, this study takes the typical open-pit coal mines in Inner Mongolia as the research objects and, based on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, analyzes the dynamic evolution characteristics and driving factors of land use in typical open-pit coal mines in Inner Mongolia from 2001 to 2020. The change trend of land use in typical open-pit mining areas in Inner Mongolia for the past 20 years is obvious, with the highest fluctuations for grassland, mining land, cropland, and residential/industrial land. Land use in the open-pit coal mining area is greatly affected by mining factors. From the perspective of spatial variation, the most important driving factor is the distance from national roads and railways, followed by the annual average temperature and annual average precipitation and topographical conditions, such as elevation. In terms of policy, land reclamation and ecological restoration in mining areas have a positive impact on land use change. Improving the mechanism for environmental compensation in mining areas can promote the efficient and rational use of mining areas and the protection of ecosystems.

Monitoring of Vegetation Disturbance and Restoration at the Dumping Sites of the Baorixile Open-Pit Mine Based on the LandTrendr Algorithm

Overstocked dumping sites associated with open-pit coal mining occupy original vegetation areas and cause damage to the environment. The monitoring of vegetation disturbance and restoration at dumping sites is important for the accurate planning of ecological restoration in mining areas. This paper aimed to monitor and assess vegetation disturbance and restoration in the dumping sites of the Baorixile open-pit mine using the LandTrendr algorithm and remote sensing images. Firstly, based on the temporal datasets of Landsat from 1990 to 2021, the boundaries of the dumping sites in the Baorixile open-pit mine in Hulunbuir city were extracted. Secondly, the LandTrendr algorithm was used to identify the initial time and duration of vegetation disturbance and restoration, while the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used as the input parameter for the LandTrendr algorithm. Thirdly, the vegetation restoration effect at the dumping sites was monitored and analyzed from both temporal and spatial perspectives. The results showed that the dumping sites of the Baorixile open-pit mine were disturbed sharply by the mining activities. The North dumping site, the South dumping site, and the East dumping site (hereinafter referred to as the North site, the South site, and the East site) were established in 1999, 2006, and 2010, respectively. The restored areas were mainly concentrated in the South site, the East site, and the northwest of the North site. The average restoration intensity in the North site, South site, and East site was 0.515, 0.489, and 0.451, respectively, and the average disturbance intensity was 0.371, 0.398, and 0.320, respectively. The average restoration intensity in the three dumping sites was greater than the average disturbance intensity. This study demonstrates that the combination of temporal remote sensing images and the LandTrendr algorithm can follow the vegetation restoration process of an open-pit mine clearly and can be used to monitor the progress and quality of ecological restoration projects such as vegetation restoration in mining areas. It provides important data and support for accurate ecological restoration in mining areas.

Research on the legal issues of the government's responsibility for ecological restoration in mining areas

Due to historical reasons, the existing large number of mines in China leave serious ecological and environmental problems after mining, so it is urgent to clarify the responsibility subject and carry out ecological restoration. In reality, the local government assumes the responsibility for ecological restoration, but this may confuse the first responsibility of the environmental damage with the government's responsibility to fill the burden, which is inconsistent with the basic principle of the "damage responsibility" of the current environmental law. The specific situation of the government's responsibility for ecological restoration in mining areas should be clarified through legislation. On the occasion of the revision of the Mineral Resources Law of the People's Republic of China, this paper discusses the theoretical basis of the government's responsibility of ecological restoration in mining areas, the nature and specific application of the responsibility of restoration, and finally puts forward the institutional suggestions for improving the Chinese government to undertake the responsibility of ecological restoration in mining areas.