Quantitative Analysis of Vegetation Dynamics and Driving Factors in the Shendong Mining Area under the Background of Coal Mining

Abstract

Elucidating the response mechanism of vegetation change trends is of great value for environmental resource management, especially in coal mining areas where climate fluctuations and human activities are intense. Taking the Shendong mining area as an example, based on the Google Earth Engine cloud platform, this study used the kernel Normalized Vegetation Index (kNDVI) to study the spatiotemporal change characteristics of vegetation cover during 1994–2022. Then, it carried out an attribution analysis through the partial derivative analysis method to explore the driving mechanism behind vegetation greening. The results showed that (1) the growth rate of vegetation cover change from 1994 to 2022 was 0.0052/a. The area with an upward trend of kNDVI accounted for 94.11% of the total area of the study area. The greening effect was obvious, and the kNDVI change would continue to rise. (2) Under the scenario of regional climate warming and humidifying, kNDVI responds slightly differently to different climatic factors, and kNDVI is positively correlated with temperature and precipitation in 85.20% of the mining area. The average contribution of precipitation, temperature, and human activities to kNDVI change in the Shendong mining area were 0.00094/a, 0.00066/a, and 0.0036/a, respectively. The relative contribution rates of human activities and climate change were 69.23% and 30.77%, respectively. Thus, human activities are the main driving factor for the changing of vegetation cover in this mining area, and climate change is the secondary driving factor. (3) The dynamic change in land use presents an increase in forest area under the ecological restoration project. The results of this study can provide a scientific basis for the future ecological construction of the Shendong mining area and help in the realization of regional green sustainable development goals.