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LANDSCAPE SCALE INDICATORS OF MINING ACTIVITY
Citation:
Heggem, D T., C M. Edmonds, A C. Neale, AND R. K. Hall. LANDSCAPE SCALE INDICATORS OF MINING ACTIVITY. Presented at U.S. EPA Hardrock Mining 2002 Conference, Westminster, CO, May 7-9, 2002.
Impact/Purpose:
There are four basic objectives of the project:
Demonstrate the application of a comparative landscape assessment in analyzing the vulnerability of surface and coastal water conditions to declines based on landscape conditions (as estimated by landscape indicators as demonstrated in the mid-Atlantic landscape atlas) in western environments;
Develop and apply landscape assessment approaches relative to specific issues, including an ability to prioritize the vulnerability of areas relative to the Clean Water Act 303(d) designations; Quantify relationships between landscape conditions (as measured by landscape indicators) and surface and coastal waters in the west to reduce the uncertainty in comparative landscape assessments, and issue-specific, landscape assessments (e.g., Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDLs);
Complete a west-wide, comparative landscape assessment relative to surface and coastal water vulnerability;
Transfer landscape assessment technologies to Regional Offices so that they can conduct landscape assessments at many scales.
Description:
Ecological indicators of stress are used by the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) to quantify the status, trends and changes of ecological goods and services. The purpose of developing landscape indicators of stress is to identify environmental and ecological alterations that are geographically widespread. The Humboldt River Watershed, Nevada, is an area of historical and current gold mining activity. Landscape scale indicators are needed to determine the spatial extent of mining activity, and any association with increased metal concentrations in stream water, sediment and aquatic biota. National Land Cover Data (NLCD) data is used to develop landscape scale indicators of present and historical mining activity. The landscape metric of Natural Land Cover Index (N-Index) is derived from the NLCD and is used to describe land use patterns from highly managed areas to undisturbed natural areas. The initial N-Index was able to define agricultural areas and large open pit mines. It was unable to identify smaller historical mine sites. To improve the capability of the NLCD in identifying these areas, the historical mine locations are given estimated spacial boundaries, converted to grid format and then added back to the original database. The results show a net increase in identifiable areas of high human activity, and potentially stressed aquatic habitat and resources. This improved landscape data is then statistically related to the stream water and sediment data.