Impacts of Mining and Urbanization on the Qin-Ba Mountainous Environment, China

Xinliang Xu, Hongyan Cai, Daowei Sun, Lan Hu and Kwamina Banson
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Xinliang Xu: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Systems, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Hongyan Cai: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Systems, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Daowei Sun: School of Marketing and Management, the University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
Lan Hu: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Systems, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 5, 1-15

Abstract: The Qin-Ba Ecological Functional Zone is a component of China’s ecological security pattern designed to protect the regional ecosystem and maintain biodiversity. However, due to the impact of mining and urban encroachment, the plight of a sustainable ecosystem in the Qin-Ba mountainous area is deteriorating. This paper has used a remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) to examine the impacts of mining and urban encroachment on the environment in the Qin-Ba mountainous area. The results indicate that the total mined area in 2013 was 22 km 2 and is predicted to escalate. Results also show that the ecosystems in Fengxian County, Shaanxi Province and Baokang County, Hubei Province were most severely affected by mining. Urbanization in the Qin-Ba mountainous area has seen an increase of 85.58 km 2 in urban land use from 2010 to 2013. In addition, infrastructure development including airport construction, tourism resorts and real estate development in the Qin-Ba mountainous area has intensified environmental and biodiversity disturbances since large areas of forest have been cleared. Our results should provide insight and assistance to city planners and government officials in making informed decisions.

Keywords: Qin-Ba mountainous area; mining; urbanization; tourism real estate; ecological environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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