Spatiotemporal conditions of vegetation and invasive plant species on mine lands. Active
To support the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Ecosystem Restoration program, we are developing 1) a document highlighting remote sensing approaches that can be leveraged for site prioritization, recovery design, and long-term assessments of recovery trends, and 2) data products of vegetation conditions, change, recovery potential, and risk of exotic plant invasion on mine lands. We will incorporate these data products, along with other publicly available datasets of environmental condition and land use, into a national geospatial decision support tool to help managers prioritize mines for recovery based on hazards, revegetation success, and economic feasibility.
Introduction and need
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Ecosystem Restoration (BIL ER) program seeks to fund the assessment and recovery of degraded ecosystems to benefit people and wildlife, and has identified several critical lands in need of recovery, including active, inactive, and abandoned mine lands. We use “recovery” to broadly refer to returning mine lands to their pre-mined condition or a determined environmental target. Mine lands are prevalent in every state of the United States, making a national geospatial decision support tool critically important for identifying, prioritizing, and tracking recovery of mine lands. Remote sensing platforms like satellites have collected global remote sensing data since the 1970’s, providing an opportunity to evaluate vegetation conditions on and around mine lands both through time and across large spatial extents. We will leverage remote sensing data to evaluate vegetation change, recovery rate, and risk of exotic plant invasion on and near mine lands to support the national geospatial decision support tool [Learn more].
Approach
During the past two decades, the use and availability of remotely sensed data has increased dramatically, providing numerous metrics supporting the evaluation of degradation and recovery of mine lands. We conducted a literature review of remote sensing studies on mine lands to evaluate the breadth of methods used and the types of metrics developed. Informed by the literature review, we will develop a short report on remote sensing and its use in assessing mine land recovery, discussing both the benefits and potential challenges associated with using remote sensing data in this application, and give a handful of example studies that use remote sensing for monitoring mine land recovery, as well as supply a non-exhaustive list of helpful resources.
From 2023-2026, we will use multiple data types, including data derived from remote sensing, to evaluate vegetation change, recovery, and invasion following surface mining activities as three pilot studies. These approaches will build and expand on methods documented in our literature review, and will include the following:
- We will develop metrics to assess vegetation degradation caused by mining activities across a large geographic extent in three priority areas (Great Basin, Colorado River Basin, and Appalachia). These metrics will provide an initial assessment of how vegetation has degraded on and around mine lands.
- We will develop metrics describing how long it may take for vegetation to return to pre-mining conditions across a subset of mine sites in sagebrush-dominated ecosystems (which encompasses the Great Basin and part of the Colorado River Basin) by comparing vegetation change on mine sites versus undisturbed sites (also called reference sites). We also will consider how invasive plant species may impact site recovery by including an assessment of current invasive species prevalence (within sagebrush-dominated ecosystems) and risk of invasion.
- We will adapt the methods developed in sagebrush-dominated ecosystems to describe how long it may take for vegetation to return to pre-mining conditions for a subset of mines in the Appalachian region using metrics developed in pilot study 1 and other metrics of vegetation cover.
Key collaborations
- Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) – This group is working with states, tribes, and government agencies to assist in carrying out the requirements of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) of 1977. We are working with individuals responsible for maintaining the National Mine Map Repository (NMMR; established through the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969; see GeoMine) and Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) on efforts related to restoration.
- Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) – The ARRI team maintains reforestation information on active, legacy, and abandoned mine lands. We are coordinating with the ARRI team to identify legacy sites (mining bonds released) that were previously revegetated with grass to help prioritize sites desired for reforestation. We are also exploring remote sensing techniques to evaluate vegetation indices that could indicate reforestation success.
- National Geospatial Program (NGP) – We are working with the NGP to evaluate changes in terrain associated with mining by comparing historic elevation data to current elevation data (3D Elevation Program [3DEP]). These data will provide indicators of environmental conditions that influence restoration success (for example, changes in elevation, slope, and aspect).
Research implications
Efforts from this project will help evaluate vegetation on mine lands through time and across space providing both a current and historic (1970’s) look at mine land condition. Knowledge of past and current vegetation conditions on mine lands will provide key information for managers to prioritize mine sites for recovery and track success of past recovery efforts. In tandem, we will host our derived products plus other currently available landscape data (such as slope, distance to recreation, vegetation type) on the national geospatial decision support tool. The tool will allow managers and decision-makers to identify potential hazards and risks to vulnerable communities and prioritize and track recovery activities on mine lands.
USGS Mine Lands Decision Support Tool
As part of the BIL ER program, a multi-agency collaborative effort is underway to develop a geospatial decision support tool for use by managers and decision-makers that allows for the analysis of defined mine lands to identify potential hazards and risks to vulnerable communities and prioritize and track remediation/restoration activities. Desired outcomes are to unite national data in an online, accessible, and query-able geospatial application driven by explicit stakeholder needs that can readily and transparently evaluate and prioritize remediation sites, consider impacts of climate change, and monitor effectiveness of projects.
Funders
This work was supported by Section 40804 Ecosystem Restoration of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (PL-117-58). Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
To support the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Ecosystem Restoration program, we are developing 1) a document highlighting remote sensing approaches that can be leveraged for site prioritization, recovery design, and long-term assessments of recovery trends, and 2) data products of vegetation conditions, change, recovery potential, and risk of exotic plant invasion on mine lands. We will incorporate these data products, along with other publicly available datasets of environmental condition and land use, into a national geospatial decision support tool to help managers prioritize mines for recovery based on hazards, revegetation success, and economic feasibility.
Introduction and need
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Ecosystem Restoration (BIL ER) program seeks to fund the assessment and recovery of degraded ecosystems to benefit people and wildlife, and has identified several critical lands in need of recovery, including active, inactive, and abandoned mine lands. We use “recovery” to broadly refer to returning mine lands to their pre-mined condition or a determined environmental target. Mine lands are prevalent in every state of the United States, making a national geospatial decision support tool critically important for identifying, prioritizing, and tracking recovery of mine lands. Remote sensing platforms like satellites have collected global remote sensing data since the 1970’s, providing an opportunity to evaluate vegetation conditions on and around mine lands both through time and across large spatial extents. We will leverage remote sensing data to evaluate vegetation change, recovery rate, and risk of exotic plant invasion on and near mine lands to support the national geospatial decision support tool [Learn more].
Approach
During the past two decades, the use and availability of remotely sensed data has increased dramatically, providing numerous metrics supporting the evaluation of degradation and recovery of mine lands. We conducted a literature review of remote sensing studies on mine lands to evaluate the breadth of methods used and the types of metrics developed. Informed by the literature review, we will develop a short report on remote sensing and its use in assessing mine land recovery, discussing both the benefits and potential challenges associated with using remote sensing data in this application, and give a handful of example studies that use remote sensing for monitoring mine land recovery, as well as supply a non-exhaustive list of helpful resources.
From 2023-2026, we will use multiple data types, including data derived from remote sensing, to evaluate vegetation change, recovery, and invasion following surface mining activities as three pilot studies. These approaches will build and expand on methods documented in our literature review, and will include the following:
- We will develop metrics to assess vegetation degradation caused by mining activities across a large geographic extent in three priority areas (Great Basin, Colorado River Basin, and Appalachia). These metrics will provide an initial assessment of how vegetation has degraded on and around mine lands.
- We will develop metrics describing how long it may take for vegetation to return to pre-mining conditions across a subset of mine sites in sagebrush-dominated ecosystems (which encompasses the Great Basin and part of the Colorado River Basin) by comparing vegetation change on mine sites versus undisturbed sites (also called reference sites). We also will consider how invasive plant species may impact site recovery by including an assessment of current invasive species prevalence (within sagebrush-dominated ecosystems) and risk of invasion.
- We will adapt the methods developed in sagebrush-dominated ecosystems to describe how long it may take for vegetation to return to pre-mining conditions for a subset of mines in the Appalachian region using metrics developed in pilot study 1 and other metrics of vegetation cover.
Key collaborations
- Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) – This group is working with states, tribes, and government agencies to assist in carrying out the requirements of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) of 1977. We are working with individuals responsible for maintaining the National Mine Map Repository (NMMR; established through the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969; see GeoMine) and Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) on efforts related to restoration.
- Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) – The ARRI team maintains reforestation information on active, legacy, and abandoned mine lands. We are coordinating with the ARRI team to identify legacy sites (mining bonds released) that were previously revegetated with grass to help prioritize sites desired for reforestation. We are also exploring remote sensing techniques to evaluate vegetation indices that could indicate reforestation success.
- National Geospatial Program (NGP) – We are working with the NGP to evaluate changes in terrain associated with mining by comparing historic elevation data to current elevation data (3D Elevation Program [3DEP]). These data will provide indicators of environmental conditions that influence restoration success (for example, changes in elevation, slope, and aspect).
Research implications
Efforts from this project will help evaluate vegetation on mine lands through time and across space providing both a current and historic (1970’s) look at mine land condition. Knowledge of past and current vegetation conditions on mine lands will provide key information for managers to prioritize mine sites for recovery and track success of past recovery efforts. In tandem, we will host our derived products plus other currently available landscape data (such as slope, distance to recreation, vegetation type) on the national geospatial decision support tool. The tool will allow managers and decision-makers to identify potential hazards and risks to vulnerable communities and prioritize and track recovery activities on mine lands.
USGS Mine Lands Decision Support Tool
As part of the BIL ER program, a multi-agency collaborative effort is underway to develop a geospatial decision support tool for use by managers and decision-makers that allows for the analysis of defined mine lands to identify potential hazards and risks to vulnerable communities and prioritize and track remediation/restoration activities. Desired outcomes are to unite national data in an online, accessible, and query-able geospatial application driven by explicit stakeholder needs that can readily and transparently evaluate and prioritize remediation sites, consider impacts of climate change, and monitor effectiveness of projects.
Funders
This work was supported by Section 40804 Ecosystem Restoration of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (PL-117-58). Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.