The impact of mining changes on surrounding lands and ecosystem service value in the Southern Slope of Qilian Mountains

Dynamics of carbon sequestration in vegetation affected by large-scale surface coal mining and subsequent restoration

Surface coal development activities include mining and ecological restoration, which significantly impact regional carbon sinks. Quantifying the dynamic impacts on carbon sequestration in vegetation (VCS) during coal development activities has been challenging. Here, we provided a novel approach to assess the dynamics of VCS affected by large-scale surface coal mining and subsequent restoration. This approach effectively overcomes the limitations imposed by the lack of finer scale and long-time series data through scale transformation. We found that mining activities directly decreased VCS by 384.63 Gg CO2, while restoration activities directly increased 192.51 Gg CO2 between 2001 and 2022. As of 2022, the deficit in VCS at the mining areas still had 1966.7 Gg CO2. The study highlights that complete restoration requires compensating not only for the loss in the year of destruction but also for the ongoing accumulation of losses throughout the mining lifecycle. The findings deepen insights into the intricate relationship between coal resource development and ecological environmental protection.

Nutrient allocation patterns of Picea crassifolia on the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

It can provide a basis for decision making for the conservation and sustainable use of forest ecosystems in mountains to understand the stoichiometric properties and nutrient allocation strategies of major tree species. However, the plant nutrient allocation strategies under different environmental gradients in forest systems of arid and semi-arid mountains are not fully understand. Therefore, three typical regions in the Qilian Mountains on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were selected based on precipitation and temperature gradients, and the stoichiometric characteristics and nutrient allocation strategies of Qinghai spruce (Picea crassifolia) of the dominant tree species under different environmental gradients were investigated. The results showed that (1) the stoichiometric characteristics of plant tissues were different in the three regions. (2) The importance of each tissue in the plant nutrient allocation varied in different regions, showing that the plant roots are more important in the warm-wet region, while the plant leaves, branches and trunks are more important in the transition and hot-dry regions. (3) The influencing factors affecting plant nutrient allocation strategies were inconsistent across regions, which showed that plant nutrient allocation strategies in the warm-wet and transition region were mainly influenced by soil factors, while they were more influenced by climatic factors in the hot-dry region. The patterns of plant nutrient allocation strategies and drivers under different environmental gradients could help us better understand the ecological adaptation mechanism and physiological adjustment mechanism of forest ecosystem in mountains.

Detecting the effects of opencast mining on ecosystem services value in arid and semi-arid areas based on time-series remote sensing images and Google Earth Engine (GEE)

Ecosystem Services Value (ESV) are the various beneficial functions and products that natural ecosystems provide to humans, and are important indicators for evaluating ecosystem conditions and human well-being. Opencast mining is one of the human activities that severely damage the surface environment, but its long-term impact on ecosystem services lacks systematic assessment. This study takes the Ordos opencast mining area as an example, and calculates the value of ESV from 1990 to 2020 based on the Google Earth Engine platform. Mann-Kendall Tau-b with Sen's Method (Sen + mk test) and Joinpoint regression model were used to analyzes its spatiotemporal variation characteristics. Further revealed the impacts of opencast mining on ESV as well as the trend of ESV changes. The results show that: (1) The dynamic ESV levels in the study area fluctuated considerably from 1990 to 2020 with an overall decreasing trend of 89.45%. (2) Among nine types ecosystem services, most of them were significantly different (p < 0.001) between mining areas and control areas, with biodiversity protection (BP), climate regulation (CR), gas regulation (GR), soil formation and retention (SFR), water supply (WS) and waste treatment (WT) showed a significant decrease between 1990 and 2020. (3) In the past 30 years, the ESV of the study area showed an overall improvement trend, where the improved area accounted for 48.45% of the total area of the study area. However, the degraded area also accounted for 21.28, and 17.19% of the area belonged to severe degradation. With 67% of the significantly degraded areas distributed within mining concessions. (4) The trend of ESV changes in the mining impact areas and the control area showed significant differences. The ESV of the control area increased continuously, with an average annual percentage change (AAPC) of 0.7(95%CI:0.50 ~ 0.9, P < 0.001) from 1990 to 2020; while the ESV of the mining impact areas first stabilized and then decreased significantly, with an AAPC of - 0.2(95%CI:- 0.3 ~ - 0.1,P < 0.001) from 1990 to 2020. This study provides scientific support for formulating ecosystem management, restoration plans, and payment for ecosystem service policies, which is conducive to achieving regional sustainable development and improving human well-being.

Spatial characteristics of nutrient allocation for Picea crassifolia in soil and plants on the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

BACKGROUND

Understanding the stoichiometric characteristics and nutrient allocation strategies of dominant tree species in montane forest systems can provide a basis for decision-making in relation to montane system management. Therefore, according to precipitation and temperature gradients, we selected three typical areas in the Qilian Mountains on the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to analyse the spatial relations of plant-soil stoichiometric characteristics and nutrient allocation strategies of plant tissues for Qinghai spruce (Picea crassifolia) along different environmental gradients.

RESULTS

1) The plant and soil stoichiometric characteristics had similar spatial patterns. The C content of plants and soils tended to decrease with increasing latitude, and the N and P contents and the N:P ratio tended to increase with increasing latitude. 2) The stoichiometric characteristics of the plant tissues also interacted with each other and showed synergistic trade-offs. Nutrient allocation in the eastern section of the Qilian Mountains was similar to that in the western section, while more N and P in the plant stems were allocated to maintain plant growth in the relatively arid western Sect. 3) The nutrient allocation strategies in the plant tissues were mainly regulated by soil and climate.

CONCLUSIONS

Information on plant-soil stoichiometric characteristics along different gradients can help us better understand the nutrient patterns and dynamics of forest ecosystems under arid and semiarid conditions at a wide geographic scale from the perspective of plant nutrient partitioning.

A new pattern to quantitatively evaluate the value of ecosystem services in the large-scale open-pit coal mining area

Introduction

Open-pit coal mining could disrupt the ecosystem and lead to the loss of service values for the ecosystem through direct occupation or indirect impacts on adjacent ecosystems.

Methods

In this research, we combined a new accounting system, gross ecosystem product (GEP), with spatial–temporal analyses to quantify the ecological variation and explore its driving factors in Pingshuo, a large-scale open-pit coal mining area in China. GEP is an aggregate accounting system that can summarize the value of provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services (ES) in a single monetary metric. The spatial–temporal approaches used in our study were known as exploratory spatial data analyses and interpretable models in machine learning. Both spatial and non-spatial data, including remote sensing images, meteorological data, and official statistics, were applied in the research.

Results

The results indicated the following: (i) From 1990 to 2020, the annual average growth rates of GEP decreased from 30.78 to 9.1%. Furthermore, the classified results of GEP revealed that the regions with rich ES quality rapidly reduced from 51.90 to 32.18%. (ii) Spatial correlation of GEP was significant, and the degree of spatial clustering was relatively high in the mining areas. Moreover, the mining areas also continually presented concentrated high-density and hot spot areas of GEP changes. (iii) The spatial–temporal effects were notable in the relationship between GEP and three socioeconomic factors, i.e., the mining effects, human activity intensity, and gross domestic product (GDP). (iv) The win–win development for both the economy and ecological environment in Pingshuo could be realized by restricting the annual growth rate of mining areas to between 4.56 and 5.03%.

Discussion

The accounting results and spatial–temporal analyses of GEP will contribute to the future regional sustainable development and ecosystem management in Pingshuo.

Using POI and time series Landsat data to identify and rebuilt surface mining, vegetation disturbance and land reclamation process based on Google Earth Engine

The development of coal resources is necessary, but it has a huge negative impact on land, ecology, and the environment. With the increasing awareness of environmental protection and the requirements of related regulations, the design and practice of reclamation projects run through the mining life cycle and continue for a long time after the coal production. High-precision monitoring of mining disturbance and reclamation, quantifying the degree and time of vegetation disturbance and restoration, is of great significance to minimize the environmental effect of mining. Remote sensing, widely used as efficient monitoring tool, but there is not enough research on disturbance and reclamation monitoring taking into account large-scale areas and high temporal and spatial accuracy. Especially when mining sites remain unknown, how to distinguish the disturbance of coal mining and other human activities affecting the surface land cover has become a challenge. Therefore, this paper proposed a method to reconstruct the time series of mining disturbance and reclamation in a large area by using the POI (point of interest) and Landsat time series images using multiple buffer analysis methods. The process includes: (1) Retrieval of POI in the study area based on the public mining list using Python crawler, and buffering 100 km for preliminary extraction of potential mining areas; (2) Using spectral index mask and random forest algorithm to accurately extract the exposed coal on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform; (3) Buffering 10 km to identify the occurrence of disturbance and reclamation, using pixel-based temporal trajectory identification of LandTrendr algorithm under GEE. The method successful detect the change points of surface coal mining disturbance and reclamation in eastern Inner Mongolia of China. The results show that: (1) The method can effectively identify the extent of surface coal mining disturbance and reclamation, and the overall extraction accuracy is 81%. (2) Surface coal mining disturbance in eastern Inner Mongolia was concentrated in 2006-2011. By 2020, the total disturbed area is 627.8 km², with an average annual disturbance of 18.5 km², and the annual maximum disturbance to the ground reached 64.6 km² in 2008. With the total reclaimed area being 236.3 km², the reclamation rate is about 37.6%. This study provides a systematic solution and process for monitoring the disturbance and reclamation of surface coal mining in a large range with little known about the mines' location. It can effectively identify the mining disturbance and reclamation process which can also be extended to other areas, providing a quantitative assessment of mining disturbance and reclamation, which can support further ecological restoration decision-making.

Modeling impacts of mining activity-induced landscape change on local climate

As a major energy source, coal has been mined on an increasingly larger scale as the social economy has continuously developed, resulting in drastic land type changes. These changes in turn cause changes in the local climate and affect the local ecological environment. Therefore, for coal cities, mining activities are an important factor influencing the local climate, and clarifying the impact of mining activities on the ecological environment is important for guiding regional development. In this paper, the impact of land use/cover changes (LUCCs) on local temperature in the spring and summer seasons from 1980 to 2018 was simulated using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with Xilinhot city as the study area, and the regional distribution of local surface energy was analyzed in conjunction with the ground-air energy transfer process. The results show that the grassland area in Xilinhot remained above 85% from 1980 to 2018, so mining activities had a small impact on the average temperature of the whole region. However, in the mining area, the warming effect caused by mining activities was more obvious, with an average temperature increase of 0.822 K. Among other land transformation types, the conversion to water bodies had a very obvious cooling effect, lowering the temperature by an average of 2.405 K. By comparing the latent heat flux (LH), sensible heat flux (SH), and ground heat flux (GRD) under different land use types, it was found that in 2018, the LH decreased by 0.487 W/m², the SH decreased by 0.616 W/m², and the GRD decreased by 0.753 W/m². The conversion to built-up urban land caused a significant decrease in the LH in the corresponding area, allowing more energy to be used to increase SH values, which resulted in significantly higher urban temperatures than in other areas.

Modelling regional ecological security pattern and restoration priorities after long-term intensive open-pit coal mining

Long-term intensive open-pit mining can have huge impacts on ecosystems and the services they provide, affecting the integrity of ecosystem structures, functions and process and thus the "ecological security" of a whole mining region. The indirect and direct impacts of mining are spatially and temporally complex and therefore ecological security patterns need to be considered. However, to date there has been little research focusing on ecological security patterns in mining regions. This study aims to model and map ecological security and restoration priorities in an intensive open-cut coal mining region accounting for spatio-temporal changes of multiple ecosystem services. Four ecosystem services including habitat quality, carbon sequestration, water yield, and sediment retention were assessed and mapped in 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020. Next ecological security patterns and restoration priorities were modelled and characterized using the Self-Organizing Feature Map to identify ecological sources, and circuit theory in Linkage Mapper to characterize connectivity and flows. The results showed that habitat quality, carbon sequestration, and water yield services were most affected by vegetation cover changes due to mining exploitation, while sediment retention was influenced by multiple natural factors, especially topography. Ecological sources, corridors, pinch-points and barriers showed various changing trends due to mined and built-up land expansion over time. Ecological source area declined from 1355.08km² in 2000 to 584.92 km² in 2020, while the number of corridors increased from 17 in 2000 to 25 in 2010 and then decreased to 21 in 2020. Although restoration has been conducted on some mine sites, regional-scale restoration needs greater consideration. This study provides decision-makers and stakeholders with a method for assessing regional-scale ecological security and restoration in a holistic and systematic way moving beyond a single mine, which is critical for balancing ecological security protection with minerals production in intensive mining regions.

Spatiotemporal Variability of Human Disturbance Impacts on Ecosystem Services in Mining Areas

Human activities pose significant impacts on ecosystem services (ESs) in mining areas, which will continually increase over time and space. However, the mechanism of ES change on spatiotemporal scales post-disturbance remains unclear, especially in the context of global climate change. Here, we conducted a global literature review on the impact of two of the most frequent disturbance factors (mining and restoration) on 27 different ESs, intending to synthesize the impacts of human disturbance on ESs in mining areas via a meta-analysis, and analyze the spatiotemporal variability of ESs after disturbance. We screened 3204 disturbance studies published on the Web of Science between 1950 and 2020 and reviewed 340 in detail. The results of independence test showed that human disturbance had a significant impact on ESs in the mining areas (p < 0.001). The impacts (positive and/or negative) caused by mining and restoration differed considerably among ESs (even on the same ESs). Additionally, spatiotemporal scales of human disturbance were significantly related to spatiotemporal scales of ES change (p < 0.001). We found that the positive and negative impacts of disturbances on ESs may be interconversion under specific spatiotemporal conditions. This seems to be associated with spatiotemporal variability, such as the temporal lag, spatial spillover, and cumulative spatiotemporal effects. Climate changes can lead to further spatiotemporal variability, which highlights the importance of understanding the changes in ESs post-disturbance on spatiotemporal scales. Our research presents recommendations for coping with the twofold pressure of climate change and spatiotemporal variability, to understand how ESs respond to human disturbance at spatiotemporal scales in the future, and manage disturbances to promote sustainable development in mining areas.

Assessment of heavy metals in surface water, sediment and macrozoobenthos in inland rivers: a case study of the Heihe River, Northwest China

Long-term retention and accumulation of heavy metals in surface water and sediment pose a great threat to the sustainable development of aquatic ecosystems and human health. In this research, macrozoobenthos, and surface water and sediment heavy metal (Mn, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Cd, and As) samples were collected from 23 sites in the upper and middle reaches of the Heihe River in the summers of 2019-2020. The interrelationships between heavy metals and macrozoobenthos were analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis and redundancy analysis (RDA), and the contamination level and potential ecological risk of the heavy metals in surface water and sediments were assessed by comprehensive pollution index (WQI), single potential ecological risk index ([Formula: see text]), and sediment quality guideline-quotient (SQG-Q), respectively. The results showed that the level of heavy metal pollution in the surface water of the Heihe River was extremely low, but the contents of Mn and Pb exceeded the third class of surface water environmental quality standards (GB 3838-2002). The spatial distribution of heavy metals in surface sediments were significantly different, and the average concentration of 8 heavy metals exceeded the background values of Gansu Province. Meanwhile, the pollution level of heavy metals in surface sediments was high pollution, and the ecological risk level was moderate risk. Combining [Formula: see text] and SQG-Q evaluations showed that Cd, Ni, and Cr were the main ecological risk factors. In addition, the distribution coefficients of Cr and Cd were low, indicating that Cr and Cd were easily released from the surface sediments, causing secondary pollution. In terms of the source of the heavy metals, Cu, As, Zn, Cr, and Ni mainly came from industrial and agricultural wastewaters, Pb was from the mining industry and natural sources, and Mn and Cd mainly came from tailings and their landfill leachate. Basommatophora and Araneae can be used as potential indicator organisms for heavy metal pollution in surface water, and Basommatophora, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Araneae can be used as indicator species for heavy metal pollution in surface sediments. The study showed that macroinvertebrate community characteristics had a sensitive response to heavy metals in the surface waters and sediments of the Heihe River, which can be used to evaluate the pollution status of heavy metals in inland rivers.

How to Account for Changes in Carbon Storage from Coal Mining and Reclamation in Eastern China? Taking Yanzhou Coalfield as an Example to Simulate and Estimate

Carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems plays an essential role in coping with global climate change and achieving regional carbon neutrality. In mining areas with high groundwater levels in eastern China, underground coal mining has caused severe damage to surface ecology. It is of practical significance to evaluate and predict the positive and negative effects of coal mining and land reclamation on carbon pools. This study set up three scenarios for the development of the Yanzhou coalfield (YZC) in 2030, including: (1) no mining activities (NMA); (2) no reclamation after mining (NRM); (3) mining and reclamation (MR). The probability integral model (PIM) was used to predict the subsidence caused by mining in YZC in 2030, and land use and land cover (LULC) of 2010 and 2020 were interpreted by remote sensing images. Based on the classification of land damage, the LULC of different scenarios in the future was simulated by integrating various social and natural factors. Under different scenarios, the InVEST model evaluated carbon storage and its temporal and spatial distribution characteristics. The results indicated that: (1) By 2030, YZC would have 4341.13 ha of land disturbed by coal mining activities. (2) Carbon storage in the NRM scenario would be 37,647.11 Mg lower than that in the NMA scenario, while carbon storage in the MR scenario would be 18,151.03 Mg higher than that in the NRM scenario. Significantly, the Nantun mine would reduce carbon sequestration loss by 72.29% due to reclamation measures. (3) Carbon storage has a significant positive spatial correlation, and coal mining would lead to the fragmentation of the carbon sink. The method of accounting for and predicting carbon storage proposed in this study can provide data support for mining and reclamation planning of coal mine enterprises and carbon-neutral planning of government departments.

Integrating Landscape Pattern into Characterising and Optimising Ecosystem Services for Regional Sustainable Development

Humans benefit from ecosystem services (ES) and profoundly influence the ecosystem in rapid urbanisation and large-scale urban sprawl contexts, especially at the landscape level. However, the impacts of landscape pattern, the driving mechanism of sub-ES and the spatially explicit regional optimisation, have been largely ignored. In response, to the present paper explores two primary aspects: the relationship among ES, landscape pattern, urban income and agricultural output, and the regional governance of optimised ES values (ESV), using the Wuhan urban agglomeration as a case study area. The survey method is employed in obtaining the adjusted magnitude matrix of land use and ecosystem services. Spatial regression analyses are conducted on each ES, including food provision, climate regulation and soil maintenance, with socio-economic indicators and landscape pattern index as explanatory variables. Finally, geographically weighted regression and scenario analyses are conducted on each sub-ESV to generate adjusted coefficients in each county for ESV regulation. The results show that urban per capita disposable income and agricultural output significantly contribute to ESV change, with the former being negative and the latter being positive. A highly aggregated landscape also produces reduced ESV, particularly in soil maintenance and gas and climate regulation. We summarise the ESV in 2020 and in the period after adjustment in different administrative counties. Provision, regulation and culture ecosystem benefits substantially increase when attempts are made to lower the landscape aggregation pattern by 1%. In general, counties and county-level cities have the largest ESV, with food provision as the optimum ecosystem benefit. Districts in the capital city show an immense growth in provision and regulation, and county-level cities show the highest growth rate in cultural service. Integrating the landscape pattern into characterising and optimising ES, provides references for regional governance on land-use planning and socio-economic development, which is vital to sustainable regional development.

Evaluation of Ecosystem Services in Mining Basins: An Application in the Piedmont Region (Italy)

Mining activities impact on the territorial system in various ways, affecting its environmental and socio-economic components. Specific evaluation tools can support decision-making processes in the context of the sustainable planning and management of mining activities. Within the evaluation procedures of mining activities, a growing interest in the analysis of Ecosystem Services (ES) is emerging. ES refer to the benefits that the natural system delivers to society, linking the health of ecosystems and human well-being. Starting from a real-world case related to the adoption of the Regional Plan of Mining Activities (PRAE) of the Piedmont region (Northern Italy), the paper aims to explore the ES valuation by considering three different mining quarries. The state of the art of the basins is compared with alternative planning scenarios from the point of view of the ES produced. The valuation is developed through GIS and the Simulsoil software, detecting the biophysical benefits produced and estimating their economic performance. The simulation results can be used to support the formulation of planning strategies, estimating the trade-offs in terms of competitive land-use values. The study also demonstrates that the integration of ES into Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) can produce a comprehensive impact assessment of a mining project, guaranteeing the protection and valorisation of the environmental system.

Remote-Sensing Evaluation and Temporal and Spatial Change Detection of Ecological Environment Quality in Coal-Mining Areas

The large-scale development and utilization of coal resources have brought great challenges to the ecological environment of coal-mining areas. Therefore, this paper has used scientific and effective methods to monitor and evaluate whether changes in ecological environment quality in coal-mining areas are helpful to alleviate the contradiction between human and nature and realize the sustainable development of such coal-mining areas. Firstly, in order to quantify the degree of coal dust pollution in coal-mining areas, an index-based coal dust index (ICDI) is proposed. Secondly, based on the pressure-state-response (PSR) framework, a new coal-mine ecological index (CMEI) was established by using the principal component analysis (PCA) method. Finally, the coal-mine ecological index (CMEI) was used to evaluate and detect the temporal and spatial changes of the ecological environment quality of the Ningwu Coalfield from 1987 to 2021. The research shows that ICDI has a strong ability to extract coal dust with an overall accuracy of over 96% and a Kappa coefficient of over 0.9. As a normalized difference index, ICDI can better quantify the pollution degree of coal dust. The effectiveness of CMEI was evaluated by four methods: sample image-based, classification-based, correlation-based, and distance-based. From 1987 to 2021, the ecological environment quality of Ningwu Coalfield was improved, and the mean of CMEI increased by 0.1189. The percentages of improvement and degradation of ecological environment quality were 71.85% and 27.01%, respectively. The areas with obvious degradation were mainly concentrated in coal-mining areas and built-up areas. The ecological environment quality of Pingshuo Coal Mine, Shuonan Coal Mine, Xuangang Coal Mine, and Lanxian Coal Mine also showed improvement. The results of Moran’s Index show that CMEI has a strong positive spatial correlation, and its spatial distribution is clustered rather than random. Coal-mining areas and built-up areas showed low–low clustering (LL), while other areas showed high–high clustering (HH). The utilization and popularization of CMEI provides an important reference for decision makers to formulate ecological protection policies and implement regional coordinated development strategies.

Surface mining caused multiple ecosystem service losses in China

China's surface mining greatly supported the rapid socio-economic development; however, there was a scarcity in the systematic understanding of national changes in surface mining changes and associated ecosystem services (ESs) losses, which inevitably affected human well-being and limited sustainable ecosystem management and policy optimization. In this study, we quantified the areal changes in surface mining based on the ChinaCover database and performed further analysis of ES loss from expanded surface mining using multidimensional geospatial data from 1990 to 2015, including MODIS products, meteorological records, and statistical datasets. Our observations reveal that China's surface mining was estimated to be 4746 km² in 2015 and that Inner Mongolia had the largest surface mining area (28%). Surface mining expanded remarkably from 1990 to 2015, with an increase by 2.7 times after 2000. In particular, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Qinghai had the greatest increases in surface mining area. Rapid expansion of surface mining led to obvious declines in natural habitat area, water retention, net primary productivity, and grain production, and these ES losses showed apparent spatiotemporal variations. China has taken many measures to reclaim the abandoned surface mining sites. Given the rapid expansion of surface mining and related ES loss, China should continue to perform ecological restoration for its sustainability.

Mapping and Evaluating Human Pressure Changes in the Qilian Mountains

Human activities have dramatically changed ecosystems. As an irreplaceable ecological barrier in western China, the Qilian Mountains (QLM) provide various ecosystem services for humans. To evaluate the changes in the intensity of human activities in the QLM and their impact on the ecosystem, the human footprint (HF) method was used to conduct a spatial dataset of human activity intensity. In our study, the NDVI was used to characterize the growth of vegetation, and six categories of human pressures were employed to create the HF map in the QLM for 2000–2015 at a 1-km scale. The results showed that the mean NDVI during the growing season showed a significant increasing trend over the entire QLM in the period 2000–2015, while the NDVI showed a significant declining trend of more than 70% concentrated in Qinghai. Human pressure throughout the QLM occurred at a low level during 2000–2015, being greater in the eastern region than the western region, while the Qinghai area had greater human pressure than the Gansu area. Due to the improvement in traffic facilities, tourism, overgrazing, and other illegal activities, grasslands, shrublands, forests, wetlands, and bare land were the vegetation types most affected by human activities (in decreasing order). As the core area of the QLM, the Qilian Mountains National Nature Reserve (NR) has effectively reduced the impact of human activities. However, due to the existence of many ecological historical debts caused by unreasonable management in the past, the national park established in 2017 is facing great challenges to achieve its goals. These data and results will provide reference and guidance for future protection and restoration of the QLM ecosystem.

Assessing and Predicting the Impact of Multi-Scenario Land Use Changes on the Ecosystem Service Value: A Case Study in the Upstream of Xiong’an New Area, China

The evaluation of ecosystem service value has become the basis of ecological protection, ecological regionalization, and ecological compensations. Land use changes have taken place due to several natural and anthropogenic reasons, significantly influencing the ecosystem services value (ESV). In this study, we used an interactive coupling model that simulates future land use changes and the equivalent coefficient table method to predict and evaluate the ecosystem service value in the upstream of Xiong’an New Area in 2035, and we quantitatively calculated the impact of land use changes on the ecosystem service value under four future scenarios. The results indicate that from 2015 to 2035, the ecosystem service value in the production scenario and life scenario decreased significantly by CNY 1635.39 million and 561.95 million, respectively, and the areas where the ESV decreased mainly appeared in river banks and surrounding areas of towns. The conversion of forest land to cultivated land and the conversion of grassland to construction land are the main reasons for the reduction of the ecosystem service value in the production scenario and life scenario, respectively. The ecosystem service value in the ecological scenario increased significantly by CNY 2550.59 million, and the conversion of grassland to waters is the main reason for the increase in ecosystem service value, with a contribution rate of 73.89%. Moreover, due to the trade-off between ecosystem services, the overall change of ecosystem service value in the current scenario is not obvious. In conclusion, strictly controlling the scale of construction land, strengthening the management and protection of water resources, and expanding the afforestation scale may improve the ecosystem service value of the upstream Xiong’an New Area in the future.

Spatiotemporal Patterns of Ecosystem Service Value Changes and Their Coordination with Economic Development: A Case Study of the Yellow River Basin, China

By integrating multiple remote sensing data sources this study accurately assesses the spatiotemporal characteristics of changes in ecosystem service values (ESVs) in the Yellow River Basin from 2000 to 2015 through Theil-Sen median trend analysis and the Mann-Kendall test. The stability and continuity of the ESVs were comprehensively characterized using coefficients of variation and the Hurst exponent. The degree of coherence between ESVs and economic growth (represented by gross domestic product GDP) on the same temporal and spatial scales was analyzed using ecological-economic coordination (EEC) models. The results show that (1) from 2001 to 2015 the total ESV and the ESV per unit area in the Yellow River Basin generally showed a U-shaped pattern (decreasing slightly then increasing rapidly). (2) The areas with increasing ESVs made up approximately 55.6% of the total area of the river basin. The areas with a decreasing pattern were mainly in the west and north of the Yellow River Basin. (3) The stability and continuity of the ESVs showed a clustered, compact distribution. (4) The most common level of EEC was slightly uncoordinated followed by slightly coordinated and highly coordinated. The proportion of coordinated areas was relatively higher in cultivated land and the lowest in built-up land.

The Impact of Land Use Change on Ecosystem Service Value in the Upstream of Xiong’an New Area

The development of the Xiong’an New Area is a crucial strategy for the next millennium in China. The ecosystem upstream of the Xiong’an New Area, serving for the development of the Xiong’an New Area, changed with land use changes. To analyze the contribution rate of the land use change to the ecosystem service value, we analyzed the land use changes of three small watersheds (7318.56 km2) upstream of the Xiong’an New Area based on a total of six phases of land use data from 1980 to 2015. Then, the ecosystem service value (ESV) was calculated using the equivalent factor method. The results showed that the construction land and arable land were the largest land use types that increased and decreased in the area of the study area, respectively. The grassland and construction land were the land use types with the largest transfer-out area and transfer-in area, respectively. The regulating services accounted for the largest proportion of total ESV among different ecosystem service functions, and the grassland and woodland accounted for the largest proportion of total ESV among different land use types. ESV in the study area fluctuated slightly from 1980 to 2015. The decrease of ESV mainly occurred in the surrounding areas of mountain towns, and the conversion of cultivated land to construction land was the main reason for the decrease of ESV in this area. The conversion of grassland to construction land had the largest contribution rate to the decrease of ESV in the study area, while the conversion of grassland to waters had the largest contribution rate to the increase of ESV. In conclusion, controlling the development of construction land and strengthening water resources’ protection may improve the ecosystem service value in the upstream Xiong’an New Area in the future.

Ecosystem services research in mountainous regions: A systematic literature review on current knowledge and research gaps

Mountain ecosystem services (MES) can provide a wide range of benefits for human well-being, including provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services. This systematic review work analyzed existed knowledge and research gaps on MES at the global level. The study used databases of science direct, Scopus and google scholar using searching, appraisal, synthesis, and analysis (SALSA) framework. Using specific keywords for the searching engine, the number of publications linked with MES were about 1252 which published between 1992 and June 2019. But, only 74 publications fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The analysis highlighted the existence of gaps in the literature including case studies from a limited geographical areas, focus on regulating and provisioning services, and lack of studies that explore the kinds of interlink between ecosystem services, and occurrence of limitation linked with data and methodology. From the 74 publications used for analysis, only seven of them were addressed mainly trade-offs and synergies, but most of them focus on quantification, qualification and economic valuation of the services. From the total case studies, the services addressed were summed up to 317 services, and the services such as climate regulation, food and fodder, fresh water, recreation and ecotourism, and erosion regulation studied more. On the contrary, photosynthesis, ornamental resources, net primary production, disease regulation, genetic resources, water purification and waste treatments were the least studied. Therefore, future research works should focus on mountainous areas of no and least studied of its ecosystem services. Critical studies are also required that indicate the link between a human being with MES, the trade-offs and synergies between MES and the influence of human beings on the quality and accessibility of ecosystem services. Besides, priority should be given by researches for methodological development and proposing management option for the mountain ecosystem and resource.

Impacts of Large-Scale Open-Pit Coal Base on the Landscape Ecological Health of Semi-Arid Grasslands

Coal is an important energy resource in the world, especially in China. Extensive coal exploitation seriously damaged the grassland and its fragile ecosystem. However, temporal and spatial impact laws of open-pit coal exploitation on Landscape Ecological Health (LEH) of semi-arid grasslands are still not clear. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to study impact of Large-scale Open-pit Coal Base (LOCB) on the LEH of semi-arid grasslands from the perspectives of temporal and spatial. Taking Shengli LOCB of Xilinguole grassland in Inner Mongolia as an example, we demonstrate a conceptual model of LOCB impact on LEH of semi-arid grasslands, and establish a research system called landscape Index-pattern Evolution-Driving force-Spatial statistics (IEDS). A complete process integrated from investigation, monitoring, and evaluation to the analysis of impact laws was developed. Result indicated that coal mining causes gradual increase of landscape patches, landscape fragmentation, gradual decline of landscape connectivity, complexity and irregularity of landscape shape, enhancement of landscape heterogeneity and complexity, gradual decline of landscape stability, gradual decrease of grassland landscape and annual increase of unhealthy grassland landscape. The LEH of grassland basically belongs to the state of slight deterioration. In the past 15 years, the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of LEH in the study area are similar. This study provides scientific reference for ecological disturbance research, environmental protection, landscape planning, restoration and renovation of ecological environment in mining areas. At the same time, future research should integrate geological, hydrological, soil, vegetation, microorganisms, animals, climate, and other perspectives to study the impact of mining on landscape ecology deeply.