327 / 2023-10-15 10:27:04

Quantitative Assessment and Spatial Analysis of Ecological Cumulative Effects in Mining Areas

ecosystem service value,ecological cumulative effects,environmental damage costs,spatiotemporal distribution patterns

Understanding the long-term impacts of coal mining on the ecological environment is vital for estimating its environmental damage costs. Existing models for evaluating the Ecological Cumulative Effects (ECE) in mining areas often lack a comprehensive consideration of spatial heterogeneity, dynamic changes, and visual representation. We proposed a pixel-based time series model of ecosystem service value (ESV) to quantify the ECE in mining areas. Utilizing remote sensing data, the model was constructed from space, time and element dimensions, which were analyzed from pixel scale, the whole research period and the perspective of ESV, respectively. First, we applied the model to Yanzhou Coalfield, a mining area with high ground-water level, from 1987 to 2016. The results showed that the change of ecosystem service value cumulant (COESVC) decreased by 644.49 million RMB, with obviously negative ECE. The areas with negative ECE were mainly distributed outside the area above mining faces, while that with positive ECE mostly appeared in waterlogged areas, especially those within the area above mining faces. Then, we enhanced the model by separating the ECE of anthropogenic activities from multiple factors, to obtain reliable evolving trends. Taking Shengli Coalfield, a surface mining area in semi-arid grasslands, as an example from 1986 to 2020, the COESVC decreased by 1,186,157.03 million RMB, indicating a negative ECE and a decline in ecosystem services. High and medium levels of negative accumulation were concentrated in degraded wetlands, grasslands, urban regions, and open-pit mines. Surface mining and urban development exerted the most pronounced negative ECE per unit area, while grazing resulted in negative ECE over a wider range and in larger quantities, with more stable ecosystem services. In general, the pixel-based time series model of ESV offered dynamic, quantitative, and spatiotemporal results, and revealed the direction, magnitude, and extent of accumulation. Eliminating the interference of regional inter-annual climate changes, the upgraded model was more suitable for reasonably evaluating the ECE of past and present human activities on ecosystems. These models provided novel insights into ECE assessment in mining and similar areas using time-series remote sensing data, allowing the shift from the physical quantity changes of the ecological environment caused by human activities in mining areas to value-based descriptions, providing a feasible method for estimating their environmental damage costs in monetary terms.