Ecological resilience study in mining area: Current status and future trends

Abstract Resilience, both as a conceptual perspective and an analytical framework, has increasingly garnered interest for its utility in examining the dynamic interactions between human societies and natural ecosystems. This approach has emerged as a pivotal tool for exploring human-land relationships, spurring notable developments in corresponding models and methodologies. Mining areas, characterized by intense human activity disturbance, serve as typical environments for the application of social and ecological resilience. This paper delineates the core concepts, research framework, and assessment methods of social and ecological resilience in mining area (SERMA), and provide a comprehensive overview of the principal applications, limitations, proposed enhancements, and future development of SERMA from conceptual, theoretical, and practical standpoints. SERMA studies encompassing various domains, including assessment, mechanism, dynamic change, prediction, determinants, and management guidance. Nonetheless, the current research on SERMA confronts several challenges. Firstly, the absence of a standardized framework for evaluating resilience studies using comprehensive indicators makes it challenging to compare them. Secondly, there is a paucity of large-scale and long-term SERMA studies. Thirdly, insufficient analysis of the mechanisms such as resilience thresholds and regime shift, and corresponding empirical research. The study of SERMA involves theory of resilience, a critical examination of mining and reclamation processes, as well as related ecological and socio-economic processes. Future advances in resilience and social-ecological system (SES) research, such as the quantitative study of resilience mechanisms, are expected to gradually be applied to mining systems.