Optimization of Ecological Security Pattern in a Mining City: Multi‐Scenario Comparison of Ecological Restoration

Abstract

During the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the rapid emergence of the post‐mining era has enhanced the urgency of ecological restoration in mining areas, making it a critical global priority. Ecological security pattern (ESP), a cost‐effective approach for ecological restoration, has seen limited comparative studies on multi‐scenario ecological restoration strategies across its optimization. To fill this gap, Datong, a typical mineral resource‐intensive city in China, was selected as the study area for conducting multi‐scenario ecological restoration simulations. Based on ESP construction and optimization, we adopted four scenarios: large‐area, high‐density, near‐source, and near‐corridor priority scenarios for restoring the mining areas, and compared the restoration effects by examining landscape components, ecosystem services, and landscape connectivity to identify the most cost‐effective strategy. The results demonstrated that the ESP consisted of 43 ecological sources and 41 ecological corridors, with a total area of 4,663.04 km2 in total, accounting for 33.09% of the study area. Notably, 44.25% of the mining areas existed within the ESP 100 m buffer zone, posing a serious threat to regional ecological security. Among these scenarios, the near‐source priority scenario was the optimal restoration scenario, demonstrating superior results in decreasing ESP fragmentation (15.29%), enhancing ecosystem services (232.40%), and improving landscape connectivity (79.22%). This study presents a multi‐scenario ESP optimization approach for ecological restoration in mining areas, which supports the assurance of ecological security and sustainable development in mineral resource‐intensive cities.