The mine–agriculture–urban compound area formed under the combined effects of natural conditions, mineral resource endowments, and historical development is affected by severe man-made disturbances, and faces a prominent contradiction between economic development and ecological protection. Guiding the future development is an urgent problem in this region. This research used image data, logical reasoning, and empirical analysis, based on social and economic statistics and land-use data, to analyze the typical characteristics and problems of the social–ecological system in the mine–agriculture–urban compound area. Moreover, we identified future directions for the region guided by policy documents and built a philosophy framework for sustainable development and management of the region based on the concept of adaptability. The results showed the following: (1) At present, the output value of the coal industry accounts for 84.10% of the total regional output value, severely disturbing its social–ecological system, which needs to be protected and restored under human guidance and management. (2) The future development of this region depends on the one hand on green mining, and on the other hand, it is necessary to fully tap the potential of arable land and livestock farms to develop efficient and intensive agriculture. (3) The key contents of the social–ecological system management of the mine–agriculture–urban compound area include resolving the contradiction between development and protection, ensuring development, optimizing industrial structure, and safeguarding public interests. In conclusion, this research can expand the connotation and application scope of adaptive management and provide a reference for such areas facing the prominent contradiction between development and protection.
Open-cast coal mining in China has developed rapidly due to its obvious advantages over underground mining. However, it may have negative ecological effects, such as biodiversity loss, water shortage, and soil erosion. Identifying and protecting the key areas with high importance for ecological sustainability are great challenges. The construction of an ecological security pattern (ESP) can improve landscape connectivity and reduce the fragmentation of ecological patches. Thus, it can be seen as an effective measure to protect regional ecological sustainability. In this study, taking the Pingshuo open-cast mining area as a case study area, ecological sources are identified through ecosystem structure and function, and corridors are extracted by constructing an ecological resistance surface, thus forming a valid ecological network. The results show that in 2018, the ESP in the study area included 11 sources with an area of 147.74 km2 and 17 corridors with a length of 92.11 km. Specifically, the ecological sources are mainly distributed in Taocun Township, Jingping Township, and Xiangyangbao Township. Among these 11 sources, sources 7 and 8 are reclaimed waste dump land, meaning that the land reclamation work in Pingshuo greatly promotes connectivity. Furthermore, dump 1 can be restored in the future by constructing three new corridors, which will greatly improve the landscape connectivity of Yuling Township. Overall, this study not only provides an effective framework for constructing and optimizing ESPs in ecologically fragile coal mining areas, but it also adds new insights to the concept of land reclamation in these areas.
The thermal environment is a crucial part of ecological environments. It is vital to study the distribution and generation of thermal environments for regional sustainable development. Mining area, agricultural area and urban area were taken as the research object, and remote sensing data were used to study the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of the thermal environment. The relationship between the thermal environment and land use types was analyzed, and the effect of mining and reclamation on the thermal environment was emphasized. The main findings were: (1) the thermal effect zone in the study area was dispersed. The area ratio of the thermal effect zone accounted for 69.70%, 68.52%, 65.85%, 74.20% and 74.66% in the year 2000, 2003, 2009, 2013 and 2018, respectively. The contribution to the overall thermal effect was in the order of agricultural area > mining area > urban area. (2) The proportion of forest and the average grid temperature always showed a significant negative correlation in different scales and had the highest correlation and the greatest influence. (3) The land surface temperature (LST) of opencast areas was higher than the surrounding temperature, and the temperature difference was 3–5 °C. The LST of reclaimed sites was lower than the surrounding temperature, and the temperature difference was −7 to 0 °C. The quantitative study found that reclamation mode, shape and spatial location could affect the cooling effect of the reclaimed site. This study can provide a reference for the mitigation of thermal effects and the identification of influences of mining and reclamation on the thermal environment in the coordinated development of similar regions.
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