Assessing the Effectiveness of Turf Transplantation and Artificial Replanting in Restoring Abandoned Mining Areas

Long-term and extensive mineral mining in the Kuermutu mine section of the Two Rivers Nature Reserve in the Altai region has disrupted the ecological balance between soil and vegetation. To assess the effectiveness of various restoration measures in this abandoned mine area, we compared two restoration approaches—natural turf transplantation (NTT) and replanted economic crop grassland (ARGC)—against an unaltered control (original grassland). We employed 11 evaluation indices to conduct soil and vegetation surveys. We developed a comprehensive evaluation model using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to assess restoration outcomes for each grassland type. Our findings indicate that both NTT and ARGC significantly improved ecological conditions, such as reducing soil fine particulate matter loss and restoring vegetation cover. This brought these areas closer to their original grassland state. The species composition and community structure of the NTT and ARGC vegetation communities improved relative to the original grassland. This was due to a noticeable increase in dominant species’ importance value. Vegetation cover averaged higher scores in NTT, while the average height was greater in ARGC. The soil water content and soil organic carbon (SOC) varied significantly with depth (p < 0.05), following a general ‘V’ pattern. NTT positively impacted soil moisture content (SMC) at the surface, whereas ARGC influenced SMC in deeper layers, with the 40–50 cm soil layer achieving 48.13% of the original grassland’s SMC. SOC levels were highest in the control (original grassland), followed by ARGC and NTT, with ARGC showing the greatest organic carbon content at 20–30 cm depths. A comprehensive AHP ecological-economic evaluation revealed that restoration effectiveness scores were 0.594 for NTT and 0.669 for ARGC, translating to 59.4% and 66.9%, respectively. ARGC restoration was found to be more effective than NTT. These results provide valuable insights into ecological restoration practices for abandoned mines in Xinjiang and can guide future effectiveness evaluations.