Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Assessing post-industrial land cover change at the Pine Point Mine, NWT, Canada using multi-temporal Landsat analysis and landscape metrics

  • Published:
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study investigates land cover change near the abandoned Pine Point Mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Industrial mineral development transforms local environments, and the effects of such disturbances are often long-lasting, particularly in subarctic, boreal environments where vegetation conversion can take decades. Located in the Boreal Plains Ecozone, the Pine Point Mine was an extensive open pit operation that underwent little reclamation when it shut down in 1988. We apply remote sensing and landscape ecology methods to quantify land cover change in the 20 years following the mine’s closure. Using a time series of near-anniversary Landsat images, we performed a supervised classification to differentiate seven land cover classes. We used raster algebra and landscape metrics to track changes in land cover composition and configuration in the 20 years since the mine shut down. We compared our results with a site in Wood Buffalo National Park that was never subjected to extensive anthropogenic disturbance. This space-for-time substitution provided an analog for how the ecosystem in the Pine Point region might have developed in the absence of industrial mineral development. We found that the dense conifer class was dominant in the park and exhibited larger and more contiguous patches than at the mine site. Bare land at the mine site showed little conversion through time. While the combination of raster algebra and landscape metrics allowed us to track broad changes in land cover composition and configuration, improved access to affordable, high-resolution imagery is necessary to effectively monitor land cover dynamics at abandoned mines.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. We use the term “Aboriginal” to collectively refer to First Nations and Métis people, in accordance with the current terminology used in Canada (Desbiens and Rivard 2014)

  2. Although closure and abandonment activities continued into the early 1990s, Pine Point halted milling operations in 1988 (Cominco Ltd. 1991).

  3. While timber extraction continued in Wood Buffalo National Park until the early 1990s, the logging occurred in the Peace River Lowlands, well south of the comparison site delineated in this study (Timoney and Peterson 1996; Boyd 2003)

  4. The 2005 image had a considerable amount of haze, likely due to smoke from a forest fire. While we masked out as much as possible, the spike in the exposed land cover type is a result of high albedo from the haze rather than changes on the ground.

References

  • Abel, K. M. (2005). Drum songs: glimpses of dene history (2nd ed.). Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed, O. S., Franklin, S. E., & Wulder, M. A. (2013). Interpretation of forest disturbance using a time series of Landsat imagery and canopy structure from airborne lidar. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 39(6), 521–542.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alagona, P. S., Sandlos, J., & Wiersma, Y. F. (2012). Past imperfect: using historical ecology and baseline data for conservation and restoration projects in North America. Environmental Philosophy, 9(1), 49–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antwi, E. K., Krawczynski, R., & Wiegleb, G. (2008). Detecting the effect of disturbance on habitat diversity and land cover change in a post-mining area using GIS. Landscape and Urban Planning, 87, 22–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badiou, P., et al. (2013). Conserving the world’s last great forest is possible: here’s how. Science/policy briefing note by the International Boreal Conservation Science Panel (IBCSP) and associates.

  • Barnett, P. J., et al. (2004). Methods for remote engineering geology terrain analysis in boreal forest regions of Ontario, Canada. Environmental& Engineering Geoscience, X(3), 229–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beaubien, J., et al. (1999). Land cover from multiple thematic mapper scenes using a new enhancement-classification methodology. Journal of Geophysical Research, 104(D22), 27, 909–27, 920.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhatta, B. (2008). Remote sensing and GIS. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bond-Lamberty, B., & Gower, S. T. (2008). Decomposition and fragmentation of coarse woody debris: re-visiting a boreal black spruce chronosequence. Ecosystems, 11, 831–840.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boucher, Y., et al. (2009). Logging pattern and landscape changes over the last century at the boreal and deciduous forest transition in Eastern Canada. Landscape Ecology, 24, 171–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, B., & Baker, D. (1998). Mine reclamation planning in the Canadian North. Northern Minerals Program Working Paper No. 1. Prepared for the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee (CARC).

  • Boyd, D. R. (2003). Unnatural law: rethinking Canadian environmental law and policy. Vancouver: UBC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, A. (2000). The use of natural processes in reclamation—advantages and difficulties. Landscape and Urban Planning, 51(2–4), 89–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bridge, G. (2004). Contested terrain: mining and the environment. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 29, 205–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, M., et al. (2010). Maintaining the role of Canada’s forests and peatlands in climate regulation. The Forestry Chronicle, 86(4), 434–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CCSG Associates. (2001). Financial options for the remediation of mine sites: a preliminary study. Ottawa: Prepared for Mining Watch Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, D., Stow, D. A., & Gong, P. (2004). Examining the effect of spatial resolution and texture window size on classification accuracy: an urban environment case. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 25(11), 2177–2192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cominco Ltd. (1991). Restoration and abandonment plan: millsite and tailings containment areas.

  • Cooke, J. A., & Johnson, M. S. (2002). Ecological restoration of land with particular reference to the mining of metals and industrial minerals: a review of theory and practice. Environmental Review, 10, 41–71.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coppin, P., et al. (2004). Digital change detection methods in ecosystem monitoring: a review. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 25(9), 1565–1596.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cushman, S. A., McGarigal, K., & Neel, M. C. (2008). Parsimony in landscape metrics: strength, universality, and consistency. Ecological Indicators, 8, 691–703.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Czerwinski, C. J., King, D. J., & Mitchell, S. W. (2014). Mapping forest growth and decline in a temperate mixed forest using temporal trend analysis of Landsat imagery, 1987-2010. Remote Sensing of Environment, 141, 188–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeFries, R., et al. (2007). Earth observations for estimating greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation in developing countries. Environmental Science & Policy, 10, 385–394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Desbiens, C., & Rivard, É. (2014). From passive to active dialogue? Aboriginal lands, development, and métissage in Québec, Canada. Cultural Geographies, 21(1), 99–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deshaies, A., Boudreau, S., & Harper, K. A. (2009). Assisted revegetation in a subarctic environment: effects of fertilization on the performance of three indigenous plant species. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 41(4), 434–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ecological Stratification Working Group (ESWG). (1995). A National Ecological Framework for Canda. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Research Branch, Centre for Land and Biological Resources Research and Environment Canada, State of the Environment Directorate, Ecozone Analysis Branch, Ottawa/Hull. Report and national map at 1:7,500,000 scale.

  • Environment Canada. (1996). The state of Canada’s environment 1996. Ottawa: Government of Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Environment Canada. (2010). 1981–2010 Climate Normals and Averages. http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html. Accessed 2 October 2014.

  • Ferguson, R. S. (1991). Detection and classification of muskox habitat on Banks Island, Northwest Territories, Canada, using Landsat Thematic Mapper data. Arctic, 44(1), 66–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fichera, C. R., Modica, G., & Pollino, M. (2012). Land cover classification and change-detection analysis using multi-temporal remote sensed imagery and landscape metrics. European Journal of Remote Sensing, 45, 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foody, G. M. (2002). Status of land cover classification accuracy assessment. Remote Sensing of Environment, 80, 185–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franklin, S. E., et al. (2003). Discrimination of conifer height, age and crown closure classes using Landsat-5 TM imagery in the Canadian Northwest Territories. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 24(9), 1823–1834.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fukami, T., & Wardle, D. A. (2005). Long-term ecological dynamics: reciprocal insights from natural and anthropogenic gradients. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 272, 2105-2115.

  • Fumoleau, R. (1974). As long as this land shall last: a history of treaty 8 and treaty 11, 1870–1939. Toronto: The Canadian Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardiner, R. T. (1990). Tailing vegetation studies at the Pine Point Mine. Vancouver: Progress Report for Pine Point Mines Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillanders, S. N., et al. (2008). Application of Landsat satellite imagery to monitor land-cover changes at the Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada. The Canadian Geographer, 52(4), 466–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gratto-Trevor, C. L. (1996). Use of Landsat TM imagery in determining important shorebird habitat in the Outer Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories. Arctic, 49(1), 11–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodacova, D. T., & Prach, K. (2003). Spoil heaps from brown coal mining: technical reclamation versus spontaneous revegetation. Restoration Ecology, 11(3), 385–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ITC database of satellites and sensors (2015). Maintained by the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente, Netherlands. http://www.itc.nl/research/products/sensordb/AllSatellites.aspx. Accessed 7 May 2015.

  • Jensen, J. R. (Ed.). (2005). Introductory digital image processing: a remote sensing perspective (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keeling, A. (2010). ‘Born in an atomic test tube’: landscapes of cyclonic development at Uranium City, Saskatchewan. The Canadian Geographer, 54(2), 228–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keeling, A., & Sandlos, J. (2009). Environmental justice goes underground? Historical notes from Canada’s northern mining frontier. Environmental Justice, 2(3), 117–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendall, G. (1992). Mine closures and worker adjustment: the case of pine point. In C. Neil, M. Tykklainen, & J. Bradbury (Eds.), Coping with closure: an international comparison of mine town experiences (pp. 131–150). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsen, J. A. (1980). The boreal ecosystem. New York: Academic Press, Inc..

    Google Scholar 

  • Lausch, A., & Herzog, F. (2002). Applicability of landscape metrics for the monitoring of landscape change: issues of scale, resolution and interpretability. Ecological Indicators, 2, 3–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lecain, T. J. (2009). Mass destruction: the men and giant mines that wired America and scarred the planet. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • LeClerc, E., & Keeling, A. (2015). From cutlines to traplines: post-industrial land use at the Pine Point mine. The Extractive Industries and Society, 2(1), 7–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lecomte, N., et al. (2005). Effects of fire severity and initial tree composition on understorey vegetation dynamics in a boreal landscape inferred from chronosequence and paleoecological data. Journal of Vegetation Science, 16, 665–674.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, P., & Boutin, S. (2006). Persistence and developmental transition of wide seismic lines in the western Boreal Plains of Canada. Journal of Environmental Management, 78, 240–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, H., & Wu, J. (2004). Use and misuse of landscape indices. Landscape Ecology, 19, 389–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, X., Li, S., & Gao, J. (2012). The monitoring of ecological reclamation evolution and landscape ecology remodeling technology of mining subsidence area. Paper presented at the Second International Workshop on Earth Observation and Remote Sensing Applications.

  • Li, J., et al. (2015). Reconstructing disturbance history for an intensively mined region by time series analysis of Landsat imagery. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 187, 557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lillesand, T. M., & Kiefer, R. W. (1994). Remote sensing and image interpretation (3rd ed.). New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc..

    Google Scholar 

  • Macpherson, J. E. (1978). The Pine Point mine. In E. B. Peterson & J. B. Wright (Eds.), Northern Transitions, Vol. I: Northern Resource Use and Land Use Policy Study (pp. 65–110). Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Resources Committee.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGarigal, K., Cushman, S.A., & Ene, E. (2012). FRAGSTATS v4: Spatial Pattern Analysis Program for Categorical and Continuous Maps. Computer software program produced by the authors at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Available at the following web site: http://www.umass.edu/landeco/research/fragstats/fragstats.html.

  • Miller, J. R., et al. (1997). Seasonal change in understory reflectance of boreal forests and influence on canopy vegetation indices. Journal of Geophysical Research, 102(D24), 29, 475–29, 482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD). (2002). Research on mine closure policy. International Institute for Environment and Development. No. 44 (pp. 1–91).

  • Narumalani, S., Mishra, D. R., & Rothwell, R. G. (2004). Change detection and landscape metrics for inferring anthropogenic processes in the greater EFMO area. Remote Sensing of Environment, 91, 478–489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Natcher, D. C. (2009). Subsistence and the social economy of Canada’s Aboriginal north. The Northern Review, 30, 83–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nickerson, D. (1992). RE: Approval of the Abandonment and Restoration Plan-Pine Point. Letter to D.L. Johnston, Vice President of Northern Operations, Cominco Metals, Cominco Ltd.

  • Otto, J. M. (2009). Global trends in mine reclamation and closure regulation. In J. P. Richards (Ed.), Mining, Society, and a sustainable World (pp. 251–288). London: Springer-Verlag.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Parks Canada. (2010). Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada Management Plan. http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nt/woodbuffalo/plan/plan1.aspx. Accessed 22 February 2015.

  • Pickett, S. T. A. (1989). Space-for-time substitution as an alternative to long-term studies. In G. E. Likens (Ed.), Long Term Studies in Ecology: Approaches and Alternatives (pp. 110–135). New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Piper, L. (2009). The industrial transformation of subarctic Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powers, R. P., et al. (2013). Integrating accessibility and intactness into large-area conservation planning in the Canadian boreal forest. Biological Conservation, 167, 371–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ray, A. J. (1990). The Canadian fur trade in the industrial age. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Remmel, T. K., & Csillag, F. (2003). When are two landscape pattern indices significantly different? Journal of Geographical Systems, 5(4), 331–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanderson, E. W., Jaiteh, M., Levy, M. A., Redford, K. H., Wannebo, A. V., & Woolmer, G. (2002). The human footprint and the last of the wild. BioScience, 52(10), 891.

  • Sandlos, J. (2007). Hunters at the margin: native people and wildlife conservation in the Northwest Territories. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandlos, J. (2015). “A mix of the good and the bad”: community memory and the Pine Point Mine. In A. Keeling & J. Sandlos (Eds.), Mining and Communities in Northern Canada: History, Politics, and Memory (pp. 137–166). Calgary: University of Calgary Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandlos, J., & Keeling, A. (2012). Claiming the new north: development and colonialism at the Pine Point mine, Northwest Territories, Canada. Environment and History, 18, 5–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, H., & Glaesser, C. (1998). Multitemporal analysis of satellite data and their use in monitoring of the environmental impacts of open cast lignite mining areas in Eastern Germany. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 19(12), 2245–2260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soverel, N., Coops, N. C., White, J. C., & Wulder, M. A. (2010). Characterizing the forest fragmentation of Canada’s national parks. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 164, 481–499.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Timoney, K. P., & Peterson, G. (1996). Failure of natural regeneration after clearcut logging in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada. Forest Ecology and Management, 87, 89–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, P. A., et al. (2009). Changes in the extent of surface mining and reclamation in the Central Appalachians detected using a 1976-2006 Landsat time series. Remote Sensing of Environment, 113, 62–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, W., et al. (2015). Free and open-access satellite data are key to biodiversity conservation. Biological Conservation, 182, 173–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Usher, P. J., Duhaime, G., & Searles, E. (2003). The household as an economic unit in arctic Aboriginal communities, and its measurement by means of a comprehensive survey. Social Indicators Research, 61, 175–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valeria, O., Laamrani, A., & Beaudoin, A. (2012). Monitoring the state of a large boreal forest region in eastern Canada through the use of multitemporal classified satellite imagery. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 38(1), 91–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wenig, M. M., O’Reilly, K., & Chambers, D. (2005). The mining reclamation regime in the Northwest Territories: a comparison with selected Canadian and U.S. jurisdictions (pp. 1–113). Canadian Institute of Resources Law, Calgary; Canadian Arctic Resources Committee; and Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

  • Wiersma, Y. F., & Simonson, C. (2010). Parks as islands: species loss in Canadian national parks. Parks Science, 27(2), 70–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiersma, Y. F., Nudds, T. D., & Rivard, D. H. (2004). Models to distinguish effects of landscape patterns and human population pressures associated with species loss in Canadian national parks. Landscape Ecology, 19, 773–786.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Will, A. (2015). Resident attitudes and beliefs toward bison, disease and management in Wood Buffalo National Park. Master’s thesis, Memorial University.

  • Woodcock, C. E., et al. (2008). Free access to Landsat imagery. Science, 320(5879), 1011.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Woolmer, G., et al. (2008). Rescaling the Human Footprint: a tool for conservation planning at an ecoregional scale. Landscape and Urban Planning, 87, 42–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Worrall, R., et al. (2009). Towards a sustainability criteria and indicators framework for legacy mine land. Journal of Cleaner Production, 17, 1426–1434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, J. (2004). Effects of changing scale on landscape pattern analysis: scaling relations. Landscape Ecology, 19, 125–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, J., et al. (2002). Empirical patterns of the effects of changing scale on landscape metrics. Landscape Ecology, 17, 761–782.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wulder, M. A., et al. (2008). Monitoring Canada’s forests. Part 1: Completion of the EOSD land cover project. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 34(6), 549–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Deninu Kue First Nation for their support of this research. Thanks also to Dr. Arn Keeling for his thoughts on earlier drafts of this paper, Dr. Zhaohua Chen (C-CORE) and Dr. Vincent Lecours for their insight regarding remote sensing and scale, and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. This research was supported by the Abandoned Mines in Northern Canada Project, which was funded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grant number 866-2008-16.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada

    Emma LeClerc

  2. Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada

    Yolanda F. Wiersma

Authors
  1. Emma LeClerc
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yolanda F. Wiersma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emma LeClerc.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

LeClerc, E., Wiersma, Y.F. Assessing post-industrial land cover change at the Pine Point Mine, NWT, Canada using multi-temporal Landsat analysis and landscape metrics. Environ Monit Assess 189, 185 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-5893-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-5893-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation