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Mining activities are the primary human-induced disturbances on plant communities in various ecosystems, and they also are important for implementing strategies of ecological protection and restoration based on them. The effects of underwater mining on plant communities in wetland ecosystems, however, are seldom demonstrated, and it is also difficult to accurately evaluate the state of plant communities' condition, considering the dynamic and randomness of plant communities under multiple factors, including climate, mining, and other human activities. To address these issues, a "Status-Habitat-Potential" (SHP) model has been developed, with nine indicators from the status, habitat, and potential of plant communities, and the plant communities in the Nansi Lake mining area are evaluated to illustrate the effects of underwater mining. Time series remote sensing images from Sentinel-2 and Google Earth Engine are applied. Comparison analysis, Global Moran's index, and hot and cold analysis are also used to demonstrate the spatial characteristics of the SHP index. Results show that the SHP index varies between 0 and 0.57 and shows a high aggregation pattern according to the Global Moran's index (0.41), with high and low values aggregating in the center of the lake and living areas, respectively. The SHP index between subsidence and contrast areas shows no significant difference (at p < 0.05), indicating little effect of mining subsidence on plant communities directly. Overall, underwater mining would not cause as obvious effects on plant communities as underground mining, but human activities accompanied by mining activities will result in the loss of plant communities around lake shores and river channels. This study put forward a new model to evaluate plant communities in terms of their status, habitat, and potential, which could also be used to illustrate other long-term effects of disturbances on plant communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ground deformation is one of the most common geological disasters arising in underground mining areas, and mining-induced environmental impacts have resulted in numerous concerns, especially the impacts on the surface vegetation. The evaluation of mining-induced impacts on vegetation is beneficial to revegetation in mining areas; however, the impacts of ground deformation have seldom been systematically evaluated and explained on long time scales despite the long-term existence of ground deformation in underground mining areas. To address this, in this study a vegetation-soil-climate (VSC) model was developed to evaluate the long-term impacts of ground deformation on vegetation, and to reveal its mechanism. The results revealed that the long-term impacts of ground deformation on vegetation result from the degradation of the vegetation and soil when ground deformation occurs, which thereby limits the growth and succession of plants after the ground deformation has occurred. The intensity of the long-term impacts is determined by the severity of the ground deformation, but the duration, climate factors, the substrate conditions of the vegetation and soil before the deformation, and the natural change coefficient of the vegetation and soil are also relevant. Furthermore, the characteristics of the long-term impacts on vegetation were analyzed, and a framework for implementing revegetation and suggestions for the supervision of revegetation in underground mining areas are presented based on the characteristics. The results of this study provide insights into the impacts of mining-induced ground deformation on vegetation on long time scales, considering the comprehensive interactions between the vegetation and other environmental factors, and provide theoretical support for revegetation in underground mining areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overlapped areas of cropland and coal resources play a fundamental role in promoting economic and social progress. However, intensive mining operations in high water-level areas have brought significant spatial–temporal heterogeneity and ecological problems. From the dual dimensions of the ecosystem service value (ESV) and ecological risk (ER), it is of great significance to explore the influence characteristics of underground mining on the landscape, such as above-ground cultivated land, which is valuable to achieving regional governance and coordinated development. In this study, taking Peixian as the research area, a multiple-dimensional correlation framework was constructed based on the revised ESV and ER, integrating the grey relational degree, spatial–temporal heterogeneity, disequilibrium, and inconsistency index to explore the ESV and ER assessment and correlation characteristics from 2010 to 2020. The results show that (1) the ESV showed a high agglomerated distribution pattern in the east, with a net decrease of 13.61%. (2) The ER decreased by 78.18 and was concentrated in the western and southern regions, with overall contiguous and local agglomeration characteristics. This indicates that the ecological security of the region has improved. (3) The comprehensive grey correlation between the cultural service value and the ecological risk index was the highest. Furthermore, the spatial–temporal heterogeneity of the ESV and ER weakened, and the disequilibrium rose and then fell, indicating that the ecosystem gradually tended to be stable. The study is crucial for overlapped cropland and coal resource areas to maintain stability and sustainable development. The multivariate correlation framework provides practical value for ecosystem management and risk control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underground mining (as opposed to open‐cast) often causes large‐scale subsidence, leading to various types of disturbances to surface vegetation. Adequate quantitative assessment of the long‐term effects of underground mining on the growth of different plant communities is important and still lacking. To address these issues, a vegetation growth contract model (VGCM) was proposed, and six indicators including the growth trend (GT), annual growth (AG), normalized spectrum entropy (Hsn), as well as the average value of annual‐average normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI; ANDVIave), annual‐maximum NDVI (ANDVImax), and annual‐minimum NDVI (ANDVImin) were selected. The long‐term effects of underground mining (EM) on the herb, shrub, and tree communities in the Nanjiao mining area, China, from 1987 to 2017 were evaluated. The results show that the plant communities, which maintained the same type in the areas influenced and not influenced by mining, accounting for 48.07% and 46% of the total area, respectively. As for these plant communities, underground mining had a significant negative effect on the AG, ANDVIave, and ANDVImax of both the herb and tree communities, while it had a positive effect on the GT and Hsn of the shrub community. Overall, underground mining had a negative effect on these three types of plant communities, and the EMs of the herb, tree, and shrub communities were −15.10, −6.79, and −4.03%, respectively. This research could provide a reference for evaluating the long‐term effects of mining activities on vegetation, and also give more insights into the effects of underground mining on different plant communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological risks associated with mineral resource extraction are of particular concern in the Belt and Road regions, yet ecological restoration has received little attention. This paper reviewed the mining situation and related ecological impacts in the Belt and Road areas, analyzed the factors impeding ecological restoration capability, assessed the capability, and then presented the key challenges and promotion strategy. The main results showed that: (1) Abundant mineral resources exist in the Belt and Road, covering up to 24,234 km2, accounting for 42.31% of the global mining areas; (2) Mining activities, open-pit or underground, can cause ecological disturbances such as excavation damage, land occupation, collapse, and pollution; (3) Economic development, environmental management, scientific and technological innovation, the political environment, investment by mining enterprises, and ecological conditions affect the ecological restoration capacity in each country; (4) The ecological restoration capability index was 67.14, 66.80, 65.12, 64.73, 60.20, and 58.89 in West Asia & North Africa, Northeast Asia & Russia, Southeast Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and South Asia, with large regional and internal differences; (5) Key challenges include imperfect multi-stakeholder administration system, lack of effective remediation technologies, and shortage of financial support. Therefore, the countries in the Belt and Road regions should be united to establish extensive policy standards and mine governance systems applicable to the mining lifecycle, improve joint research and development of restoration technologies, and build multi-funding support systems. • Mining-induced damage and rehabilitation are critical issues facing the Belt and Road Initiative. • Weak economy, management, technological innovation, politics, mining enterprise, and natural conditions may hinder ecological restoration. • The challenges to be addressed include governance systems, technologies, and funding. • Suggest promoting governance system, scientific research, sustainable practice for the Belt and Road initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]