Assessing Ecosystem Services from the Forestry-Based Reclamation of Surface Mined Areas in the North Fork of the Kentucky River Watershed

Abstract

Surface mining is a major driver of land use land cover (LULC) change in many mountainous areas such as the Appalachian region. Typical reclamation practices often result in land cover dominated by grass and shrubs. Assessing ecosystem services that can be obtained from a forest landscape may help policy-makers and other stakeholders fully understand the benefits of forestry-based reclamation (FRA). The objectives of this study are to (1) identify how surface mining and reclamation changed the LULC of a watershed encompassing the north fork of the Kentucky River, (2) assess the biophysical value of four major ecosystem services under the contemporary LULC condition, and (3) assess the benefits of the FRA scenario in the provision of ecosystem services. Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to study the LULC change and InVEST software models for ecosystem services assessment. The results indicate that watershed’s forest area has decreased by 7751 hectares from 2001 to 2011 and mining/reclamation activities may have contributed 65% of the overall changes in LULC. Barren and grassland land covers provide less carbon storage, yield more water, and export more sediments and nutrients than forests. At the watershed level, the FRA scenario increased carbon storage (13%) and reduced water yield (5%), sediment export (40%), and nutrient export (7%). The provision of these ecosystem services varies at the subwatershed level, and such spatial heterogeneity is primarily driven by land cover composition, precipitation, and topography. This study provides critical information regarding the ecological benefits of restoring mined land to assist policy and decision making at landscape scales.

Bundles and Hotspots of Multiple Ecosystem Services for Optimized Land Management in Kentucky, United States

“…km 2 from 1992 to 2011, resulting in a significant degradation of water-related ecosystem services at the state level [42]. Much of the forest loss was attributed to coal mining and the subsequent reclamation to the grassland in eastern Kentucky [43]. Restoration of abandoned coal mines to forest in the Appalachian region has been advocated by a coalition of citizens, government officials, and coal industry representatives for quite some time [44], yet its adoption is very limited, partly due to the lack of appreciation of ecosystem services provided by forest by the local residents and stakeholders.…”

Assessing the ecological regime and spatial spillover effects of a reclaimed mining subsided lake: A case study of the Pan'an Lake wetland in Xuzhou

“…Land reclamation causes changes in landscape patterns and ecological processes by changing the ecological environments in mining areas through the implementation of various reclamation measures, ultimately affecting the provision of ecosystem services and the surrounding environment [18,23]. To relate abstract ecological concepts to specific economic benefits to better evaluate and measure ecological restoration conditions in the study area, we conducted analyses focused on three variables: ecosystem service value, ecological storage capacity and spillover effects.…”

Detecting the Complex Relationships and Driving Mechanisms of Key Ecosystem Services in the Central Urban Area Chongqing Municipality, China

“…Growing studies has been discussing that the change of WC is not completely determined by land use change, but dominated by regional climate change and human activities [70,89]. At present, most studies have primarily focused on the spatiotemporal pattern analysis of ESs [90], but the scale-dependent effects have usually been ignored, such as land use and topographic heterogeneity. The spatiotemporal heterogeneity of ESs at different scales can be more clearly characterized by hotspots identification [2].…”