BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES: AN ECOLOGICAL OPPORTUNITY FOR COAL MINING SUBSIDENCE AREAS

Rapid population growth and economic development increase energy and grain demands. However, in the high-groundwater coal basins where coal seams and agricultural production overlap, mining subsidence destroys much arable land, causing a series of environmental and social issues. This study investigated plants, beetles, spiders and birds in typical intensive farmlands and farmlands containing mining subsidence mosaics (i.e., mosaic farmlands) in North China. The species composition of these four taxonomic groups differed significantly between the intensive farmlands and mosaic farmlands, with 271 plant, 17 spider, 49 beetle and 138 bird species in the mosaic farmlands and 76, 12, 35 and 30 such species in the intensive farmlands, respectively. The mosaic farmlands hosted more and different species than the intensive farmlands. Additionally, these four taxonomic groups, especially plants and birds, showed a higher abundance and diversity in mosaic farmlands than in intensive ones. These mosaics thus have increased biodiversity conservation value. We emphasize that attention should be paid not only to the environmental damage and human property loss caused by coal mining subsidence but also to the ecological opportunities from the formation of such new habitats. These post-mining habitats represent a new ecological landscape that should be a part of natural conservation.