Changes in ecosystem services related to implementing the water concept of post-mining areas reclamation. The example of Eastern Greater Poland

Abstract

The study focuses on identifying and assessing changes in ecosystem services related to implementing the water concept of reclamation of post-mining areas with a deep water deficit and a high risk of hydrological drought. Long-term mining activities, exploitation and reclamation influence changes in the pre-mining landscape and the formation of post-mining ecosystems, providing a specific range of ecosystem services. The structure of benefits depends on the mode of reclamation, the type of use of post-mining ecosystems and the relationship to ecosystems that existed in a given area before the commencement of mining. To assess the benefits provided by post-mining ecosystems (2027 scenario), and the benefits provided by ecosystems in the pre-mining landscape (1944), the concept of ecosystem services was used and the study of transformations in the structure of the landscape system of the Adamów–Koźmin mining area (Eastern Greater Poland) between specific time slices. The preliminary assessment included the benefits of ecosystems that have been most transformed as a result of mining activities (agroecosystems, forest ecosystems, surface and groundwater ecosystems) and are of significant importance for the development of the post-mining region because they relate to food production, climate regulation, and resource provision water and landscape diversity. Simple indicators were used to describe them based on available data and data from planned recultivation projects and concepts. The results enable a measurable comparison of the benefits obtained by post-mining ecosystems depending on the adopted reclamation scenarios, which justify the inclusion of the ecosystem services concept in managing post-mining areas.