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Vegetation dynamics of coal mining city in an arid desert region of Northwest China from 2000 to 2019

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Abstract

Coal mining has led to serious ecological damages in arid desert region of Northwest China. However, effects of climatic factor and mining activity on vegetation dynamics and plant diversity in this region remain unknown. Wuhai City located in the arid desert region of Northwest China is an industrial city and dominated by coal mining. Based on Landsat data and field investigation in Wuhai City, we analyzed the vegetation dynamics and the relationships with climate factors, coal mining activity and ecological restoration projects from 2000 to 2019. Results showed that vegetation in Wuhai City mostly consisted of desert plants, such as Caragana microphylla, Tetraena mongolica and Achnatherum splendens. And the vegetation fractional coverage (VFC) and greenness rate of change (GRC) showed that vegetation was slightly improved during the study period. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was positively correlated with annual mean precipitation, relative humidity and annual mean temperature, indicating that these climate factors might play important roles in the improved vegetation. Vegetation coverage and plant diversity around the coal mining area were reduced by coal mining, while the implementation of ecological restoration projects improved the vegetation coverage and plant diversity. Our results suggested that vegetation in the arid desert region was mainly affected by climate factors, and the implementation of ecological restoration projects could mitigate the impacts of coal mining on vegetation and ecological environment.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFC0504400) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2020YJSHH06). Thanks to Prof. LI Zhaoliang and Dr. GAO Maofang of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences for their generous assistance in data collection. Thanks to Prof. JIANG Xiaoguang of University of Chinese Academy of Science for careful editing the manuscript and suggestions. Thanks to Prof. YANG Keming of China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing) for the guidance in the methodology of remote sensing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China

    Siyuan Zhou, Yufeng Duan, Yuxiu Zhang & Jinjin Guo

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  1. Siyuan Zhou
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  2. Yufeng Duan
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  3. Yuxiu Zhang
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Correspondence to Yuxiu Zhang.

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Zhou, S., Duan, Y., Zhang, Y. et al. Vegetation dynamics of coal mining city in an arid desert region of Northwest China from 2000 to 2019. J. Arid Land 13, 534–547 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-021-0007-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-021-0007-3

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