Ecosystem Services for Planning Post-Mining Landscapes Using the DPSIR Framework

Abstract

Mining in general, and particularly mining for energy resources such as coal and lignite, results in massive impacts on the surrounding landscape and ecosystems. Post-mining reclamation that takes account of the disturbed ecosystem services requires a research approach that links the mining impact to ecosystem functions and ecosystem service potentials. The method used in this paper combines the Driving Forces–Pressures–State–Impact–Response (DPSIR) framework and the ES cascade approach by complementing the limitations of each approach with the strengths of the other. The DPSIR framework is extended to a causal network to account for the multiple interconnected causal chains of coal and lignite mining impacts. The presented causal network supports the identification of ES indicators for the assessment, planning, and monitoring of post-mining reclamation in coal/lignite mining landscapes. The presented approach can also inform political and administrative decisions by identifying the ecosystem elements at risk of being degraded from mining.

Revealing the Spatial-Temporal Evolution and Obstacles of Ecological Security in the Xiamen-Zhangzhou-Quanzhou Region, China

“…The DPSIR model combines and extends the DSR model and the PSR model. It can effectively capture social, economic, human, and environmental factors and retrieve the relationship between multiple factors to comprehensively evaluate regional ecology and environment [14]. The DPSIR model fully reveals the causal relationship between the environment and human activities, providing a clear and simple framework for the research and evaluation of human activities and resource and environmental sustainability [35].…”

“…Ecological security evaluation is the basis for assessing a region's ecological status and ecological environmental pressure, issuing early warnings on ecological security, and making ecological security management decisions [13]. Moreover, it can also provide a scientific basis for regional urban planning, environment governance, and ecological policy implementation [14]. From a research perspective, ecological security evaluation is linked to economic development, social construction, and environmental protection, mainly focusing on spatio-temporal patterns, driving factors, evolutionary mechanisms, simulations, and early warnings [15][16][17].…”

“…The DPSIR ModelThe DPSIR model combines and extends the DSR model and the PSR model. It can effectively capture social, economic, human, and environmental factors and retrieve the relationship between multiple factors to comprehensively evaluate regional ecology and environment[14]. The DPSIR model fully reveals the causal relationship between the en-…”

Prompt determination of predictive parameters for mining-technogenic landscape objects

“…This trend is conditioned by the powerful impact of surface mining, which creates significant cavities in the subsoil, and mining waste accumulates on the earth's surface in the form of tailings and beneficiation tailings, while backfill technology is not widespread. Complex mining of minerals by surface and underground methods in mining regions leads to a change of natural landscapes into mining-technogenic landscapes [16][17][18][19]. Thus, typical forms of mining-technogenic landscapes are quarry cavities, the earth's surface failure zones of mines and industrial wastes accumulated from the processes of mining and beneficiation of minerals.…”