Ecosystem services (ES) are directly affected by land use and land cover changes (LUCC); however, the impacts of extended period LUCC on ES are poorly explored. Here, we mapped the 1998–2019 annual land use and land cover in the Dongting Lake Region (China) and explored the spatiotemporal evolution of LUCC and landscape patterns (i.e., composition, shape, and aggregation) and their relationship with ES, including carbon storage, gross primary production (GPP), water conservation capacity, and crop yield in the region. The results showed a significant increase in forest areas and impervious surfaces and a decrease in croplands and bare lands with spatial heterogeneity. Carbon storage was strongly correlated with forest, cropland, waterbody, impervious surface, and bare land, and there was a nonlinear relationship between landscape patterns and ES. The trade-offs and synergies (correlations) among ES varied considerably, with crop yield being significantly synergistic with carbon stocks, GPP, or GPP with carbon stocks. This study revealed the nonlinear relationship between landscape patterns and ES, and the mechanism of landscape characteristics on ES. The findings can provide scientific support for regional land use planning, ES regulation, and landscape optimization in the lake region.

Abstract Vegetation dynamics and land use information are significant for a better understanding of the ecological consequences of multiple mining activities. However, the high spatial heterogeneity of mine sites and diverse disturbance and recovery pathways make it a challenge to understand the dynamics of multiple mine sites over large areas. Here, we proposed a general framework for continuous monitoring of land use and vegetation dynamics in multiple mine sites and applied it to Pingxiang, China. First, annual land use and land cover (LULC) maps from 2000 to 2019 were generated using a modified Continuous Change Detection and Classification approach (CCDC). Second, the locations and extents of 86 mine sites on different scales were mapped individually and then aggregated into five groups according to the similarity and differences of vegetation change. Vegetation dynamics showed great heterogeneity across sites driven primarily by the spatial‐temporal variation in types and intensity of land use activities in and around the mine sites. We found the impact distance was typically 500–700 m in the region, but can be smaller than the potential impact distance in areas with land use activities. The long‐term slow recovery of vegetation conditions at some sites indicates that it might be a challenge to improve vegetation conditions naturally in a short time and human‐assisted restoration measures may be required. The systematic framework proposed in this study can be used to establish comprehensive and spatially‐explicit mine datasets at the regional scale, essential for understanding the dynamics and ecological consequences of multiple mining activities and coordinated management and restoration of heterogeneous mine sites.