Monitoring coal mine changes and their impact on landscape patterns in an alpine region: a case study of the Muli coal mine in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Abstract

The Muli coal mine is the largest open-cast coal mine in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and it consists of two independent mining sites named Juhugeng and Jiangcang. It has received much attention due to the ecological problems caused by rapid expansion in recent years. The objective of this paper was to monitor the mining area and its surrounding land cover over the period 1976-2016 utilizing Landsat images, and the network structure of land cover changes was determined to visualize the relationships and pattern of the mining-induced land cover changes. In addition, the responses of the surrounding landscape pattern were analysed by constructing gradient transects. The results show that the mining area was increasing in size, especially after 2000 (increased by 71.68 km), and this caused shrinkage of the surrounding lands, including alpine meadow wetland (53.44 km), alpine meadow (6.28 km) and water (6.24 km). The network structure of the mining area revealed the changes in lands surrounding the mining area. The impact of mining development on landscape patterns was mainly distributed within a range of 1-6 km. Alpine meadow wetland was most affected in Juhugeng, while alpine meadow was most affected in Jiangcang. The results of this study provide a reference for the ecological assessment and restoration of the Muli coal mine land.

Is underground coal mining causing land degradation and significantly damaging ecosystems in semi‐arid areas? A study from an Ecological Capital perspective

“…damaged due to open-cast coal mining (Pond, Passmore, Borsuk, Lou, & Rose, 2008). In light of the potential impact of mining on ecology, scholars have decomposed the entire life cycle of coal and assessed the risks of coal mining, processing, transportation, application, and disposal on the ecological environment (Dai, Dong, & Yan, 2017;Shen & Ahlers, 2018).…”

“…Geography information technology has been used to geologically assess the impact of mining on the natural environment (Aleksandrova, Lipina, & Grekhnev, 2013). In addition, some people have studied out a method of constructing gradient transects to respond to the surrounding landscape pattern (Qian, Yan, Xing, & Xiu, 2017). In terms of ESVs, some scholars study the land use and ecosystem service value of coal mining in the typical mining area of Shandong, China, and explore the relationship with the local economy and the policy of sustained development of the mining area (Xiao et al, 2018;Zhang et al, 2013).…”

Recognition of Landscape Key Areas in a Coal Mine Area of a Semi-Arid Steppe in China: A Case Study of Yimin Open-Pit Coal Mine

“…During the past decade, there has been an increasing interest in landscape pattern changes in coal mine areas [12][13][14][15]. These changes reflect a spatiotemporal evolution specific to the effects of coal mining, which might lead to the rapid degradation of its native ecosystem [16,17].…”

Influence of Mining and Vegetation Restoration on Soil Properties in the Eastern Margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

“…Over the past few decades, human activities have been the most direct factors causing changes to the Earth's surface and ecosystems [1]. Mining activities, as with most activities to sustain human livelihood, have resulted in the most intense impact on the ecosystem structure and function of mining areas [2,3].…”