Diagnosis of ecological security and the spatial heterogeneity of its driving factors in the mining-impacted watershed, based on ecosystem health-risk-services framework

Abstract

• We developed an ES assessment framework based on EH-ER-ESs. • We explored the mechanism of EH, ER, and ESs on ES. • There are situations where a healthy ecosystem is not necessarily safe. • Scattered mining increases landscape ER and imbalances ESs, thus affecting ES. • Main tasks to improve ES: restore mines to integrate into the adjacent landscape. A comprehensive diagnosis of ecological security (ES) and its driving mechanisms in the watershed under mining influence is essential for the conservation and restoration of watershed ecosystems. Few studies have comprehensively evaluated ES by considering the condition of the ecosystem itself, the ecological function it provides, and the risk it faces. Therefore, by innovatively synthesizing ecosystem health (EH), ecological risk (ER), and ecosystem services (ESs), an ES evaluation framework based on EH-ER-ESs was constructed. Based on quantifying the ES of a typical watershed with mines clustered in China’s Northern Sand Prevention Belt, a spatial correlation analysis was used to elucidate the spatial differentiation characteristic of ES and verify the necessity of the evaluation framework. The driving mechanism of ES and the spatial heterogeneity of its key driving factors were explored using the Geodetector model and the geographically-weighted regression model. The results show that (1) ES was generally medium-security, and very low-security areas (8.16%) were mainly concentrated in the eastern mining aggregation areas. (2) ES showed high-high and low-low spatial clusters. Overall, ES was positively correlated with EH and ESs, while negatively correlated with ER, but there were individual cases of “high health-low security” and “high services-low security”, and combining EH, ER, and ESs to diagnose ES comprehensively was necessary. (3) Drought index, vegetation cover, distance from mining land, population density, and CONTAG were the key driving factors of ES. The explanatory power of factor interactions was higher than that of single factors. The impact of driving factors showed significant spatial heterogeneity, with the effects of mine agglomeration on ES primarily concentrated in the east. The EH-ER-ESs framework can be used for ES evaluation in other ecosystems, and the findings provide important guidance for conducting integrated watershed management.

Topics & Concepts