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Article

Impacts of Sand Mining Activities on the Wetland Ecosystem of Poyang Lake (China)

1
School of Geography and Environment, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
2
The Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Wetland and Watershed Research, Ministry of Education, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Land 2022, 11(8), 1364; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081364
Submission received: 23 July 2022 / Revised: 15 August 2022 / Accepted: 18 August 2022 / Published: 21 August 2022

Abstract

Increasing anthropogenic activities are threatening freshwater ecosystems worldwide. Sand mining in Poyang Lake has significantly impacted the wetland ecosystem over the past 20 years, yet a quantitative analysis of these impacts remains insufficient. Here, we used 63 Landsat images taken from 2000 to 2020 along with the support vector machine (SVM) method and a retrieval model of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) to identify sand mining vessels and areas affected by sand mining. Then, we analyzed the changes in landscape patterns in the areas affected by sand mining. The potential impact of underwater noise generated by sand mining vessels on Yangtze finless porpoises was analyzed by a sound propagation model. The number of sand mining vessels in Poyang Lake during the flood, normal, and dry seasons increased from 2000 to 2016 but rapidly decreased from 2017 to 2020. Sand mining vessels were mainly distributed in the northern channel from 2000 to 2006, moved toward the center of the lake from 2007 to 2010, then moved northward in 2017. Within the areas affected by sand mining, water and mudflats declined, grassland and sandbars increased, and the landscape discontinuity increased. The habitat of the Yangtze finless porpoise affected by underwater noise from sand mining vessels in all seasons has significantly increased overtime. The mean area of the affected habitats was 70.65% (dry), 64.48% (normal), and 63.30% (flood) of the total habitat areas. The porpoise habitats in the northern channel and the west branch of the Ganjiang River are more seriously affected by the underwater noise of sand mining vessels than the southern lake. The impact of sand mining activities on wetland landscape and aquatic species demands systematic investigation in the future.
Keywords: sand mining vessels; habitats; Yangtze finless porpoise; underwater noise; landscape sand mining vessels; habitats; Yangtze finless porpoise; underwater noise; landscape

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MDPI and ACS Style

Deng, M.; Li, Q.; Li, W.; Lai, G.; Pan, Y. Impacts of Sand Mining Activities on the Wetland Ecosystem of Poyang Lake (China). Land 2022, 11, 1364. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081364

AMA Style

Deng M, Li Q, Li W, Lai G, Pan Y. Impacts of Sand Mining Activities on the Wetland Ecosystem of Poyang Lake (China). Land. 2022; 11(8):1364. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081364

Chicago/Turabian Style

Deng, Mingming, Qiyue Li, Wenya Li, Geying Lai, and Yue Pan. 2022. "Impacts of Sand Mining Activities on the Wetland Ecosystem of Poyang Lake (China)" Land 11, no. 8: 1364. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081364

APA Style

Deng, M., Li, Q., Li, W., Lai, G., & Pan, Y. (2022). Impacts of Sand Mining Activities on the Wetland Ecosystem of Poyang Lake (China). Land, 11(8), 1364. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081364

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