Temporal and spatial change of land use in a large-scale opencast coal mine area: A complex network approach

Large-scale opencast coal mining results in the severe destruction of original ecosystems, as well as changes in land use. The complex network approach can be helpful for understanding the complex land use process. In this study, the complex network approach was used to analyze the land use change in the Pingshuo opencast coal mine area in the Shanxi province of China. Using six periods of land use data from 1986 to 2015, a complex network of land use change of five stages was constructed. The values of node degree, betweenness, and average shortest path in the network were calculated to identify the key land use type, the transformation process of different land use types and to discuss the stability of land use systems. Moreover, the main parts of complex networks were selected to evaluate the temporal and spatial changes of land use processes. From 1986 to 2015, with the dual influence of coal mining and high-speed urbanization, the amount of agricultural land decreased; in contrast, the amount of construction land, industrial and mining area land generally increased. Agricultural land was the main output land type, and construction land and industrial and mining area land were the main input land types. Cultivated land, forest land, and grassland were the key land use types during land processes from 1986 to 2009. Cultivated land, forest land, stripping areas and dumping areas became the key land types from 2009 to 2013, and from 2013 to 2015, cultivated land, forest land, and transportation land became the key land types. Large-scale opencast mining activities severely affect land use change. The overall stability of the land-use system was poor, and the system had the worst stability because of the intensification of mining activities from 2009 to 2013. Local government and coal enterprise should carry out some measures to improve the land use in large-scale opencast coal mine areas, including laying emphasis on land-saving use during mining processes, protecting agricultural land, controlling construction land, strengthening land reclamation, optimizing the use of reclamation land, and using “lease instead of expropriation” to carry out the reform of mined land.