Earth Science Frontiers ›› 2021, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (4): 100-109.DOI: 10.13745/j.esf.sf.2020.10.24

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Spatio-temporal dynamics of landscape ecological risk in resource-based cities: A case study of Wuhai

LI Shaoling1(), XIE Miaomiao1,2,*(), LI Hanting1, WANG Huihui1, XU Meng1, ZHOU Wei1,2   

  1. 1. School of Land Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
    2. Key Laboratory of Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing 100035, China
  • Received:2020-09-30 Revised:2020-11-22 Online:2021-07-25 Published:2021-07-25
  • Contact: XIE Miaomiao

Abstract:

Large-scale open-pit coal mining has a great impact on the ecological environment. This paper aimed to study the impact of resource mining on landscape ecological risk in the arid desert areas of Northwest China and the spatio-temporal dynamics of such risk in the context of resource-based city transformation. We chose the resource-declining city, Wuhai, Inner Mongolia, and its surrounding areas as the study area. The threat index was added to the disturbance and vulnerability measures in assessing landscape ecological risk in order to develop a comprehensive risk assessment model for resource-based cities. The sequential variation and temporal distribution features of risk were analyzed using the 2005-2015 Wuhai landscape data. The results show: (1) The landscape change was greater between 2010-2015 than 2005-2010, and the annual change intensities were 7.43% and 3.44%, respectively, with most activities in industrial/mining and urban construction lands but with reduced annual intensity increase. (2) The degree of forest, water area and wetland losses worsened slightly initially then improved dramatically; other land and grassland losses increased while industrial/mining land use decreased first then increased slightly. On the other hand, the threat indexes of urban construction and industrial/ming lands were the highest. Other landscape types displayed an upward tendency, but the rise in “other land”, water area and wetland gradually slowed down. (3) From 2005-2015, the ecological risk index increased, and the risk level was higher in the west and middle than in the south and north. The low risk areas shifted from the edge to the center, while the high-risk area expanded from the original high-risk area. The change in the risk area during the study period is evident in the high-risk western sandy land, and the risk in other lands is always lower in the east than in the west of the mining area because of bush and grassland covers. Depending on the proportion of industrial/mining land use in different risk grades, risk management can be accomplished by controlling the proportion under 5%. The study provides a basis for ecological risk management in resource-based cities through proper land planning.

Key words: ecological risk, threat index, landscape pattern, land use, Wuhai City

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