Integrating mining district data into ecological security pattern identification: a case study of Chenzhou

Area of Science:

• Urban ecology
• Environmental management
• Geospatial analysis

Background:

• Mining cities face ecological degradation and disrupted security patterns due to resource extraction.
• Identifying and protecting ecological security patterns (ESP) is crucial for urban sustainability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a process for identifying ESP in mining cities.
• To establish an ecological security framework for Chenzhou, China.

Main Methods:

• Integrated landscape risk assessment, remote sensing ecological quality evaluation, and mining district spatial data.
• Introduced the ecological source index (ECSI) and constructed an ecological resistance surface (ERS).
• Applied circuit theory to map ecological corridors and nodes.

Main Results:

• Identified 2,903 km² of primary, 1,735 km² of secondary, and 2,124 km² of tertiary ecological sources.
• Mapped 90 ecological corridors (1,183.66 km), 22 inactive corridors (983.37 km), 68 pinch points, and 80 barriers.
• Found that mining activities fragment ecological corridors, with barriers concentrated in urban and mining zones.

Conclusions:

• Established a "dominant source with multiple subsidiary cores" structure and a "three horizontal and four vertical" corridor network.
• Highlighted the impact of mining on ecological corridor fragmentation.
• Recommended targeted mining management and ecological restoration strategies for sustainable urban development.