Cost-benefit analysis of ecological restoration based on land use scenario simulation and ecosystem service on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Optimal allocation of technical reclamation and ecological restoration for a cost-effective solution in Pingshuo Opencast Coal Mine area of China

Limiting adverse consequences of mining activities requires ecosystem restoration efforts, whose arrangement around mining areas is poorly designed. It is unclear, however, where best to locate ecological projects to enhance ecosystem services cost-effectively. To answer this question, we conducted an optimized ecological restoration project planning by the Resource Investment Optimization System (RIOS) model to identify the restoration priority areas in the Pingshuo Opencast Coal Mine region in Shanxi Province. This region features notable mining activity, agricultural land use, and urban development. We found that the land use changes were primarily influenced by human activities such as mining and urbanization, as well as ecological interventions from 1986 to 2022, during which the area of industrial and construction land continuously expanded. The RIOS model was configured using input data such as land use, digital elevation models (DEM), and biophysical coefficients. Ecological restoration objectives were selected, including Erosion Control for Drinking Water Quality, Erosion Control for Reservoir Maintenance, Nutrient Retention, and Baseflow. Investment optimization scenario simulations revealed that over 90% of ecological projects in the Pingshuo Opencast Coal Mine are distributed in the low-slope areas (0°-15°). Four types of technical reclamation and ecological restoration projects, i.e., agroforestry, grass strips, riparian management, and terracing, exhibit strong preferences for specific locations. Riparian management and agroforestry tend to be distributed on soil dumps; terracing and grass strips tend to be distributed in the upstream agricultural areas of rivers and junctions of watershed gullies and slopes. The model prioritized areas based on ecological restoration goals and stakeholder interests, optimizing locations that would maximize ecological benefits while addressing the objectives. Moreover, depending on the different goals of ecological restoration in the mining area, investment plans that maximize benefits for stakeholders should range between 3 and 6 million dollars. While the restoration strategies in this study were designed for the Pingshuo region, they hold potential for other mining areas with similar biophysical conditions, surrounding ecosystems, and mining scales. The RIOS model adjusts its recommendations based on specific input data, making it adaptable and broadly applicable to other mining area. The results of this study positively contribute to alleviating the conflict between ecosystem protection and socioeconomic development in mining areas, scientifically regulating ecological restoration activities, and enhancing ecosystem services. Our results provide evidence that ecological restoration interventions contribute measurably to restore the degraded ecosystems in the mining areas.

Spatial Autocorrelation Analysis of Land Use and Ecosystem Service Value in the Huangshui River Basin at the Grid Scale

The Huangshui River Basin is one of the most densely populated areas on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and is characterized by a high level of human activity. The contradiction between ecological protection and socioeconomic development has become increasingly prominent; determining how to achieve the balanced and coordinated development of the Huangshui River Basin is an important task. Thus, this study used the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud-computing platform and Sentinel-1/2 data, supplemented with an ALOS digital elevation model (ALOS DEM) and field survey data, and combined a remote sensing classification method, grid method, and ecosystem service value (ESV) evaluation method to study the spatial correlation and interaction between land use (LU) and ESV in the Huangshui River Basin. The following results were obtained: (1) on the GEE platform, Sentinel-1/2 active and passive remote sensing data, combined with the gradient tree-boosting algorithm, can efficiently produce highly accurate LU data with a spatial resolution of 10 m in the Huangshui River Basin; the overall accuracy (OA) reached 88%. (2) The total ESV in the Huangshui River Basin in 2020 was CNY 33.18 billion (USD 4867.2 million), of which woodland and grassland were the main contributors to ESV. In the Huangshui River Basin, the LU type, LU degree, and ESV have significant positive spatial correlations, with urban and agricultural areas showing an H-H agglomeration in terms of LU degree, with woodlands, grasslands, reservoirs, and wetlands showing an H-H agglomeration in terms of ESV. (3) There is a significant negative spatial correlation between the LU degree and ESV in the Huangshui River Basin, indicating that the enhancement of the LU degree in the basin could have a negative spatial spillover effect on the ESV of surrounding areas. Thus, green development should be the future direction of progress in the Huangshui River Basin, i.e., while maintaining and expanding the land for ecological protection and restoration, and the LU structure should be actively adjusted to ensure ecological security and coordinated and sustainable socioeconomic development in the Basin.

Evaluating Ecosystem Services and Trade-Offs Based on Land-Use Simulation: A Case Study in the Farming–Pastoral Ecotone of Northern China

Evaluating the impacts of land-use change (LUC) on ecosystem services (ESs) is necessary for regional sustainable development, especially for the farming–pastoral ecotone of northern China (FPENC), an ecologically sensitive and fragile region. This study aimed to assess the impacts of LUC on the ESs and provide valuable information for regional planning and management in the FPENC. To accomplish this, we assessed LUC in the FPENC from 2010 to 2020 and simulated land-use patterns in 2030 under three plausible scenarios: the business as usual scenario (BAUS), economic development scenario (EDS), and ecological protection scenario (EPS). Then, we quantified five ESs (including crop production, water yield, soil retention, water purification, and carbon storage) for 2020–2030 and analyzed the trade-offs and synergies among ESs in all scenarios. The results show that FPENC experienced expanding farming land and built-up land throughout 2010–2020. Under the BAUS and EDS from 2000 to 2030, especially EDS, the increase in farming land and built-up land will continue. As a result, crop production and water yield will increase, while soil retention, water purification, and carbon storage will decrease. In contrast, EPS will increase soil retention, water purification, and carbon storage at the cost of a decline in crop production and water yield. These results can provide effective reference information for future regional planning and management in the farming–pastoral ecotone.

Integrating the Ecological Security Pattern and the PLUS Model to Assess the Effects of Regional Ecological Restoration: A Case Study of Hefei City, Anhui Province

Most studies in the field of ecological restoration have only focused on repairing damaged land and have made no attempt to account for the impact of high-intensity land use on future landscape patterns. The purpose of this study was to propose a framework for evaluating the expected effects of ecological restoration based on land-use change and the ecological security pattern. Therefore, we integrated the PLUS model with the ecological security pattern and used Hefei City as a case study to conduct research. The results showed that from 2020 to 2030, land-use changes would occur primarily in the main urban area of Hefei and along the eastern shore of the Chaohu Lake watershed. Under the ecological protection scenario, arable land would be converted to construction land and woodland. Additionally, there would be an increase in ecological sources and pinch points in the area, and the number and area of the barriers would show a certain degree of reduction. The ecosystem quality, ecological integrity, and landscape connectivity of Hefei would be improved. This study offers a novel perspective for evaluating the expected effects of regional ecological restoration and provides an important reference for the dynamic formulation of multilevel ecological restoration policies.