Ecological Indicators 107 (2019) 105660

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Ecological Indicators
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolind

Emergy evaluation of a swamp dike-pond complex: A new ecological T

restoration mode of coal-mining subsidence areas in China
⁎
Jinfang Suna,b,c, Xingzhong Yuana,b,c, , Hong Liua,b,c, Guodong Liud, Guanxiong Zhanga,b,c
a
Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China
b
Key Laboratory of New Technology for Construction of Cities in Mountain Area, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China
c
Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China
d
College of Geography and Tourism, Qufu Normal University, Rizhao 276826, China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The swamp dike-pond complex (SDPC) is a mode of ecological restoration in coal-mining subsidence areas in
Emergy evaluation China that consists of an engineered swamp and an engineered dike-pond. The aim of this study is to compare
Ternary emergy conventional reclamation and ecological restoration systems by performing emergy analysis. The analysed
Ecological restoration systems included an SDPC and contrasting fish ponds (CFP) in a stabilized subsidence area and an SDPC in a
Swamp and dike-pond complex
submergence area that can be used as a transition system during the course of the succession of coal-mining
Coal-mining subsidence area
subsidence areas. Indices, ratios and ternary diagrams based on emergy can be used to assess the behaviours of
the three systems. Emergy analysis was well suited for this task because it was capable of converting all energies,
materials and information to a common unit of quality to allow for deep comparisons across the three systems.
The results show that the SDPC was most dependent upon renewable resources, and efforts were made to
maintain the natural mechanisms of energy and matter flow regulation as much as possible. Therefore, the SDPC
has greater emergy efficiency in terms of biological energy use and the level of environmental loading. The CFP
was more dependent on the fraction of purchased inputs and nonrenewable inputs from the outside. The sus-
tainability index values for the three systems ranged from 0.82 for the CFP in the stabilized subsidence area to
4.31 for the SDPC in the submergence area and 9.12 for the SDPC in the stabilized subsidence area. The results
confirm that the SDPC is less stressful on the environment and more sustainable than the CFP in coal-mining
subsidence areas. In addition, the respective ecosystem service values for each system were 1.52E + 17 sej/yr/ha
for the SDPC in the stabilized subsidence area and 2.90E + 16 sej/yr/ha for the SDPC in the submergence area,
which were 10.1 and 1.9 times higher than the value for the CFP, respectively. This research suggests that
vegetation, faunal communities and functional hydrology, which support the entire ecosystem via the food web,
can be restored in the SDPC, and restored wetlands can provide economic and ecological benefits via the return
of their ecological services and functions. Endangered and rare species, such as Baer's pochard (Aythya baeri) and
reed parrotbill (Paradoxornis heudei), were found in this area, and the prospects of such species depend on future
restoration policies in coal-mining subsidence areas in China. To safeguard biodiversity, SDPCs should be pre-
ferred over other reclamation methods. This work will inform environmental policy making and be used to
recommend better management practices to the government.

1. Introduction Blachowski, 2016; Donnelly et al., 2008). Subsidence is a gradual de-

Long-term underground coal mining has removed support from
thick and loose covering layers of soil and rock, creating voids in their
formations, destroying their equilibrium state and gradually deforming
and displacing the strata to impact their surface (Altun et al., 2010;
formation of the ground surface caused by readjustment of the over-
lying strata above voids, and mining-related subsidence may damage
surface infrastructure, buildings, and farmlands as well as interrupt the
balance between the underground water table and manmade surface
drainage systems (Düzgün et al., 2011; Marschalko et al., 2013;

⁎
Corresponding author at: Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China; Key Laboratory of New Technology for
Construction of Cities in Mountain Area, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China; Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics
and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China.
E-mail address: 1072000659@qq.com (X. Yuan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105660
Received 4 May 2018; Received in revised form 25 June 2019; Accepted 19 August 2019
1470-160X/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Sun, et al.
Blachowski, 2016). In 2017, the countries with the largest proven coal
reserves were the United States, Russia, Australia, China, and India, and
the major producers and consumers of coal globally were China, the
United States, India, Australia, and Japan. Of these, China is the largest
producer and consumer, accounting for 46.4% and 50.7% of global
production and consumption, respectively (BP, 2018). The annual coal
output in China has continued to exceed 2.6 billion tons in recent years
(BP, 2018), of which 92% originates from underground mining. The
area of subsidence is estimated to vary from 0.20 to 0.33 ha for every
10,000 tons of coal that is mined underground, and subsidence is ex-
pected to expand by 2.0 × 104 ha per year in China (Hu and Xiao, 2012;
Zhang et al., 2019), especially in the North China Plain. Due to their
shallow groundwater tables (Wang et al., 2009; Xiao et al., 2013),
subsiding areas are prone to submergence, forming large waterlogged
areas. As submergence expands with coal mining, permanent water-
logged areas turn into subsidence ponds, and even lakes, called an-
thropogenic water bodies (Krodkiewska and Królczyk, 2011) that form
wetland ecosystems.
Many studies concerning the ecological restoration of natural wet-
lands have been carried out (Orr et al., 2007; Cui et al., 2009; Steven
and Lowrance, 2011; Mitsch and Gosselink, 2015; Liu et al., 2016;
Mitsch, 2017; Lu et al., 2018a,b; Li et al., 2019), but such studies have
not been conducted as frequently in new wetlands formed by sub-
sidence ponds (Krodkiewska and Królczyk, 2011; Dolny and Harabis,
2012; Molenda, 2015; Blachowski, 2016; Zhang et al., 2017; Pan et al.,
2019). Although the degradation of original natural wetlands is con-
stantly intensifying, novel, early-successional wetland sites, such as
mining dumps, quarries and subsidence ponds, are emerging in mi-
neral-rich countries. These localities have minimal land-use utility for
agriculture or city development and are thus regarded as economic
“scars”. In China, national legislation requires mining enterprises to
reclaim subsidence ponds, and these projects usually consist of
draining, levelling the ground, importing fertile topsoil, and subse-
quently converting the ponds to farming land or fish culture ponds with
the aim of creating more economic benefits (Hu, 1996; Hu et al., 2014).
However, these projects are expensive and often fail to achieve their
established goals. Increasing evidence reveals the important ecosystem
service and habitat values that these sites provide (Adams and Robbins,
1988; Wood et al., 2001; Strzelec et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2017; Yuan
et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2019), but their biological complexity and
diversity potential are rarely acknowledged. At the same time, it has
been firmly established that many threatened species depend on early-
successional conditions Van Swaay (2002) and Wood et al. (2001)
stressed that rare species can migrate to and tolerate the environmental
conditions in subsidence ponds, which raises the question of whether
subsidence ponds may partially compensate for the loss of natural
wetlands for which ecological restorations have been attempted.
The purpose of wetland restoration is to restore ecosystem services,
such as nutrient filtration and retention, water purification and wildlife
habitat (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2015; Matzek et al., 2019), but it is a
complex dynamic process that involves various kinds of natural and
manmade capital. Emergy evaluation method, which provides a bridge
to connect economic, social and ecological systems (Odum, 1988;
Brown et al., 1995; Brown and Herendeen, 1996; Jørgensen et al.,
2016; Song et al., 2019), could objectively shed light on biophysical
processes and ecosystem services from an ecocentric rather than an-
thropocentric perspective. In addition, the economic and ecological
performance of restored ecosystems have been widely evaluated with
this method (Brown and McClanahan, 1996; Campbell, 1998; Zuo et al.,
2004; Campbell et al., 2005; Cohen et al., 2006; Lu and Campbell,
2009; Lu et al., 2011; Watanabe and Ortega, 2014; Fonseca et al., 2017;
Lu et al., 2017; Lu et al., 2018a,b; Zou et al., 2019). The development of
swamp dike-pond complexes (SDCPs), which are intricate systems of
swamps, dikes and ponds, is an important form of ecological en-
gineering (Todd et al., 2003; Odum and Odum, 2003; Mitsch, 2012; Sun
et al., 2019) and an eco-friendly mode of ecological restoration (Li
2
Ecological Indicators 107 (2019) 105660
et al., 2013; Willison et al., 2013; Yuan et al., 2017; Rey et al., 2018). In
this study, the function, structure, efficiency and sustainability of an
SDPC in China is analysed from a systems perspective via emergy
analysis, and its ecosystem services performance is also evaluated. The
results are integrated and expressed as emergy indices (Brown and
Ulgiati, 1997; Brown and Buranakarn, 2003; Pan et al., 2019) and
emergetic ternary diagrams (Almeida et al., 2007), which are compared
with those of fish culture pond systems.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study area
The North China Plain, located from 112°30′E–119°30′E and
34°46′N–40°25′N, is a thick Cenozoic sedimentary basin covering an
area of approximately 300,000 km2 (Kang and Eltahir, 2018). It is
bordered by the Taihang Mountains on the west, by the Bohai Sea on
the east, by the Yanshan Mountains on the north, and by the Yellow
River on the south, with elevations ranging from 100 m in the west to
less than 1–2 m in the east (Wu et al., 1996; Chen et al., 2005; Lu et al.,
2008). This area is important for both the storage of coal resources and
economic activity in China. Most coal fields in the North China Plain
are adjacent to densely populated villages and small cities, where
subsidence causes farmland degradation, soil erosion and flooding (Hu
et al., 1997; Bian et al., 2010; Dong et al., 2014).
This study was carried out at the Baodian and Henghe coal mines
(35°N, 116°E) (Fig. 1) in Shandong Province in the middle of the North
China Plain. The climate in this region is warm-temperate, sub-humid
continental monsoon with a mean annual temperature of 14.1 °C. The
annual precipitation ranges from 434 to 1225 mm (Wu et al., 1996) and
predominantly falls during the summer monsoon from June to August,
and the mean precipitation is 771 mm (Yuan et al., 2018). Large-scale
mining activities in the Baodian area started in the 1980s and continue
today. Over 40 years, serious subsidence has been caused by uneven
settlement of the overburden due to disintegration of the mine infra-
structure (Düzgün et al., 2011; Marschalko et al., 2013).
2.2. Experimental design
To improve the functions of the Baodian coal-mining subsidence
area and to protect its biological complexity and diversity, an ecological
restoration project was implemented in July 2014. The area of this
project was composed of an SDPC and subsidence ponds used to culture
fish as a contrast. The SDPC is near the Sihe River, a major river in the
subsidence area (Fig. 1), and includes a stabilized subsidence area and a
submergence area. Due to shallow groundwater tables (Foster et al.,
2004) and extensive rainfall during the summer, subsiding areas are
prone to submergence, which forms many waterlogged areas. As the
expanding subsidence areas increase in depth, large waterlogged areas
become connected and turn into semi-permanent or permanent ponds.
The total area of the SDPC is approximately 552.4 ha, and the total area
of the nine subsidence ponds in this study area is 306.8 ha, occupying
55.5% of the SDPC.
The depth of the subsidence, which is crucial to the surface topo-
graphy, is of great significance for future land-use development. In this
study area, the surface elevation of the Sihe River is 39.3 m. In addition,
there are no channels between the ponds, which results in different
water surface elevations, and the water depth varies from 0 to 14 m.
Deep subsidence (> 2 m) dominates, accounting for 73.08% of the total
subsidence pond area, and two areas with the deepest subsidence exist
(> 10 m), one in the northern part of the village of Houbao and the
other in the southern tip of the lake to the southeast (see Fig. 2).
In the submergence area, the SDPCs were constructed according to
the pre-existing topography, and the principles of ecological en-
gineering were applied during the design process with respect to the
prediction of water level fluctuations in the subsidence area. The
J. Sun, et al. Ecological Indicators 107 (2019) 105660

Fig. 1. Location of the coal-mining subsidence area and the swamp-dike ecological engineering area.

Fig. 2. The interaction between the surface water and groundwater in SDPC.

3
J. Sun, et al.
Trees grow taller
Ground subsidence
Fig. 3. The concept map of dynamic engineering.
selectively planted trees and shrubs, which are resistant to submergence
and have high economic value, formed into lignosa. Based on the pre-
dicted water level fluctuations in the subsidence area, woody plants
were installed in the unsubsided areas, but as the sub-
sidence increased, these plants began to sink into the water. As the
subsidence progressed, the maximum depth of the pond was only 7 m
after 30 years, but these plants had grown to more than 10 m, fully
exceeding the 7-m flood depth (Fig. 3). In our experimental study area,
the plant Taxodium ‘Zhongshansa’, which is resistant to water sub-
mergence, was selected, and flood-resistant shrubs and small trees were
planted in the pond dike and surrounding areas to establish the SDPCs.
When subsidence increases, plants subsequently root into the deeper
layers where there is adequate water (Coppin and Bradshaw, 1982).
The system, composed of flood-resistant trees and shrubs, provides
abundant food and shelter for animals in the summer season (Fig. 4). To
determine the ecological and economic efficiencies provided by the
SDPC in the subsidence area, an adjacent fish pond farming system in
the eastern part of the experimental area in the subsided zone was se-
lected for comparison. The 26 contrasting fish ponds (CFP) occupied an
area of approximately 56.59 ha.
2.3. Data collection
To evaluate the restoration results, we conducted a continuous
survey of the vegetation and water birds of the SDPCs and CFP from
Fig. 4. The concept map of the swamp-dike-pond complex.
4
Ecological Indicators 107 (2019) 105660
2014 to 2017 (Table 1).
The vegetation investigation was conducted in July of every year
because plants grow well and can be easier to identify during this
period. Fifty-eight 10-m × 10-m sample plots and 120 1-m × 1-m
sample plots (at least 3 replicates per sampling site) were selected, and
the plant species, height, and cover at the sampling site were recorded.
In addition, to determine the dry matter yield, the harvested biomass
was dried at 80 °C for 48 h and weighed.
The water bird survey was conducted in the early morning from
January 2015 to October 2017 using standardized observation proto-
cols and the fixed-point observation method (Pescador et al., 2012).
The water bird species, habitat and number were recorded during the
observation period; observations were facilitated by monocular and
binocular telescopes.
To measure the economic benefits of the SDPCs and CFP, we con-
ducted several interviews with local farmers in October 2017. Data
regarding the production and associated costs of pond fish culture and
Lotus in the SDPCs and CFP were collected.
2.4. Data analysis
In addition to the flow and storage of natural resources in ecosys-
tems, emergy, which was first advanced by H.T. Odum in the 1980s, is
also connected to human society through the use of natural resources.
Emergy flow is the benchmark for the various functions of energy in
nature and the human social economy; it can be used to express and
understand the relationship between humans and the natural environ-
ment. Establishment of this method has suggested that economic de-
velopment and environmental protection are possible if a sustainable
economy is dominant (Ulgiati et al., 1994; Brown and Herendeen,
1996).
The fundamental equation of emergy analysis is expressed by the
formula:
n
EM = ∑ Ei τi
i=1
where Ei is the energy content of the ith input flow into the process, and
τi is the solar transformity of the ith independent input flow. For con-
sistency, we adopted the same approach for the three systems we
evaluated. The emergy evaluation is considered to have an emergy
J. Sun, et al. Ecological Indicators 107 (2019) 105660

Table 1
Summary of datasets and usages.
Data type Units Source Collection time Usage

Plant Species – Vegetation investigation July (2014–2017) SDPC, CFP

Plant height cm Vegetation investigation July (2014–2017) SDPC, CFP
Plant cover % Vegetation investigation July (2014–2017) SDPC, CFP
Biomass g/m2 Vegetation investigation July (2014–2017) SDPC, CFP
Water bird species – Water bird survey January 2015–October 2017 SDPC, CFP
Water bird habitat – Water bird survey January 2015–October 2017 SDPC, CFP
Water bird number – Water bird survey January 2015–October 2017 SDPC, CFP
Fingerlings kg Interview October 2017 CFP
Machinery kg Interview October 2017 CFP
Feed kg Interview October 2017 CFP
Fishery services $ Interview October 2017 CFP
Fish $ Interview October 2017 CFP
Lotus roots $ Interview October 2017 SDPC
Others – Interview October 2017 SDPC, CFP

Table 2
Emergy analysis of SDPC in the stabilized subsidence area.
Item Unit Renewability factor Raw data Transformity (sej/ Solar emergy (sej/ Reference Emergy flow per ha (sej/ Em-value (EM $)
unit) yr) yr/ha)

Renewable resources
1 Sunlight J 1 1.00E+16 1.00E+00 1.00E+16 Odum (2000) 3.74E+13 1.28E+03
2 Rain chemical J 1 1.02E+13 2.36E+04 2.39E+17 Odum (2000) 8.94E+14 3.07E+04
3 Wind J 1 1.53E+13 1.86E+03 2.85E+16 Odum (2000) 1.06E+14 3.65E+03
Total 1.02E+13 2.39E+17 8.94E+14 3.07E+04

Local resources
4 Timber J 1 7.22E+11 3.32E+04 2.39E+16 Brown and Bardi 8.95E+13 3.07E+03
(2001)
5 Reed J 1 5.40E+12 7.05E+03 3.80E+16 Brown and Bardi 1.42E+14 4.88E+03
(2001)
6 Lotus J 1 2.13E+12 1.10E+05 2.35E+17 Brown and Bardi 8.78E+14 3.01E+04
(2001)
Total 8.25E+12 2.97E+17 1.11E+15 3.81E+04

Non-renewable resources
7 Soil loss J 0 3.92E+11 1.72E+04 6.73E+15 Cohen et al. (2006) 2.52E+13 8.63E+02
8 Water J 0 8.45E+10 6.13E+04 5.17E+15 Zhang et al. (2011) 1.93E+13 6.63E+02
Total 4.76E+11 1.19E+16 4.45E+13 1.53E+03

Purchased resources
9 Vegetation US$ 0.05 2.62E+04 8.13E+12 2.13E+17 Jiang and Chen 7.96E+14 2.73E+04
(2008)

Economic income
10 Lotus roots US$ 2.24E+05 8.13E+12 1.82E+18 Jiang and Chen 6.79E+15 2.33E+05
(2008)

Service yield
11 CO2 absorbing kg 2.19E+04 5.67E+10 1.24E+15 Ren et al. (2009) 4.63E+12 1.59E+02
12 O2 releasing kg 1.56E+03 7.67E+10 1.20E+14 Ren et al. (2009) 4.47E+11 1.53E+01
13 Water regulation kg 1.71E+07 9.99E+08 1.71E+16 Brown and Bardi 6.38E+13 2.19E+03
(2001)
14 Plant biodiversity Sp 164 1.41E+17 2.31E+19 Lan et al. (2002) 8.64E+16 2.96E+06
15 Water birds Sp 125 1.41E+17 1.76E+19 Lan et al. (2002) 6.58E+16 2.26E+06
Total 1.71E+07 4.08E+19 1.52E+17 5.23E+06

baseline of 12.0 E + 24sej/yr (Brown et al., 2016).
3. Results
The energy flows of the coal-mining subsidence area and its three
restoration systems were converted into emergy units (Tables 2–4); the
synthetic system diagram in Fig. 5 shows the inputs and outputs of the
three restoration ecosystems. All flows entering the ecosystem were
directly converted into emergy via available transformity values, and
the flows of the purchased inputs that enter the ecosystem were mul-
tiplied by their respective renewability factors (Cavalett et al., 2006;
Agostinho et al., 2008; Ortega et al., 2016) to divide them into their
renewable and nonrenewable fractions. Total renewable (R), non-
renewable (N), purchased renewable (FR) and purchased nonrenewable
(FN) emergy flows were computed by summing the corresponding
fractions of each input flow. The renewable energy for the whole eco-
system was equal to the chemical energy. Smaller emergy flows from
the co-products of rainfall, such as sunlight and wind, were not in-
cluded in the renewable emergy base of the ecosystem to avoid re-
peated calculation of the inputs.
3.1. Emergy input
As shown in Tables 2 and 5, the empower density that flows into the
SDPC in the stabilized subsidence area is 2.84E + 15 sej/yr/ha, in
which the proportions of renewable emergy inflows, nonrenewable
inflows, and purchased inflows from the outside ecosystem to the total
emergy input are 70.45%, 28.16%, and 27.99%, respectively. The

5
J. Sun, et al. Ecological Indicators 107 (2019) 105660

Table 3
Emergy analysis of SDPC in the submergence area.
Item Unit Renewability factor Raw data Transformity (sej/ Solar emergy (sej/ Reference Emergy flow per ha (sej/ Em-value (EM $)
unit) yr) yr/ha)

Renewable resources
1 Sunlight J 1 3.56E+15 1.00E+00 3.56E+15 Odum (2000) 1.33E+13 4.57E+02
2 Rain chemical J 1 3.61E+12 2.36E+04 8.51E+16 Odum (2000) 3.18E+14 1.09E+04
3 Wind J 1 5.44E+12 1.86E+03 1.01E+16 Odum (2000) 3.78E+13 1.30E+03
Total 3.61E+12 8.51E+16 3.18E+14 1.09E+04

Local resources
4 Timber J 1 2.02E+11 3.32E+04 6.69E+15 Brown and Bardi 2.50E+13 8.58E+02
(2001)
5 Reed J 1 1.12E+11 7.05E+03 7.91E+14 Brown and Bardi 2.95E+12 1.01E+02
(2001)
6 Lotus J 1 1.74E+10 1.10E+05 1.92E+15 Brown and Bardi 7.16E+12 2.46E+02
(2001)
Total 3.32E+11 9.40E+15 3.51E+13 1.21E+03

Non-renewable resources
7 Soil loss J 0 1.39E+11 1.72E+04 2.39E+15 Cohen et al. (2006) 8.93E+12 3.06E+02
8 Water J 0 1.05E+10 6.13E+04 6.45E+14 Zhang et al. (2011) 2.41E+12 8.26E+01
Total 1.50E+11 3.03E+15 1.13E+13 3.89E+02

Purchased resources
9 Vegetation US$ 0.05 7.33E+03 8.13E+12 5.96E+16 Jiang and Chen 2.23E+14 7.65E+03
(2008)

Economic income
10 Lotus roots US$ 1.82E+03 8.13E+12 1.48E+16 Jiang and Chen 5.54E+13 1.90E+03
(2008)

Service yield
11 CO2 absorbing kg 3.14E+03 5.67E+10 1.78E+14 Ren et al. (2009) 6.66E+11 2.28E+01
12 O2 releasing kg 2.24E+02 7.67E+10 1.72E+13 Ren et al. (2009) 6.43E+10 2.21E+00
13 Water regulation kg 2.13E+06 9.99E+08 2.13E+15 Brown and Bardi 7.95E+12 2.73E+02
(2001)
14 Plant biodiversity Sp 36 1.41E+17 5.08E+18 Lan et al. (2002) 1.90E+16 6.51E+05
15 Water birds Sp 19 1.41E+17 2.68E+18 Lan et al. (2002) 1.00E+16 3.43E+05
Total 2.13E+06 7.76E+18 2.90E+16 9.95E+05

empower density that flows into the SDPC in the submergence area is
1.65E + 15 sej/yr/ha, including the fractions invested from renewable
(%R = 60.14), nonrenewable (%N = 37.97) and purchased sources (%
F = 37.93) (Tables 3 and 5). The empower density that flows into the
CFP is 1.41E + 17 sej/yr/ha, of which the renewable and nonrenewable
portions constitute 0.64% and 55.07%, respectively (Tables 4 and 5).
The purchased emergy inflows accounted for the highest proportion
(99.33%) in this system (Table 5).
3.2. Emergy output
Wetland restoration can play an important role in regaining the
main functions of wetland ecosystem services, and the new wetlands
caused by coal-mining subsidence support a variety of flora and fauna.
The service yields of the three systems ranged from 1.50E + 16 sej/yr/
ha for the CFP in the stabilized subsidence area to 2.90E + 16 sej/yr/ha
for the SDPC in the submergence area to 1.52E + 17 sej/yr/ha for the
SDPC in the stabilized subsidence area. In the SDPCs, a total of 164
species of plants belonging to 48 families and 125 genera can be clas-
sified into four plant community categories: (a) the primary types of
plants in succession dominated by Populus deltoides and Salix matsu-
dana; (b) the climax types in which green bristlegrass and Imperata
cylindrica prevail; (c) the marsh community wherein Lotus and
Phragmites communis dominate; and (d) the plant types in which
Taxodium ‘Zhongshansa’ prevail. There are 2 species of first-class pro-
tected plants and 4 species of second-class protected plants as defined
by the government, including Ginkgo biloba L., Metasequoia glyptos-
troboides, Nymphaea L., Juglans regia, Cinnamomum camphora (L.) Presl.
and Glycine soja. We also found a new species of hornwort,
Ceratophyllum taipingense, in this area.
A total of 105 avian species of 15 orders and 39 families, including
29 residents, 45 passage migrants, 5 winter residents and 26 summer
residents, were found in this area, indicating that the new wetlands
caused by coal-mining subsidence had become an important breeding
and overwintering site for migrating birds in China. The breeding birds,
residents and summer residents, such as moorhen (Gallinula chloropus),
common tern (Sterna hirundo) and great crested grebe (Podiceps cris-
tatus), account for 52% of the birds in the subsidence area. There are 8
species of second-class protected birds, as defined by the government
(Zheng, 2018), white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons), black-winged kite
(Elanus caeruleus), western osprey (Pandion haliaetus), hen harrier
(Circus cyaneus), common buzzard (Buteo japonicus), sparrowhawk
(Accipiter nisus), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), and common kestrel
(Falco tinnunculus). Of the species observed, two can be considered Near
Threatened: Baer's pochard (Aythya baeri) and reed parrotbill (Para-
doxornis heudei) (Zhang et al., 2017).
The CFP significantly differed from the SDPCs in species diversity.
The main plant species in this area were Phragmites communis, Imperata
cylindrica and green bristlegrass. A total of 6 avian species, including
Eurasian magpie (Pica pica), carrion crow (Corvus corone), white wagtail
(Motacilla alba), and little grebe (Podiceps ruficollis), were found in this
area. Overall, the SDPCs harboured a much greater diversity of plant
and bird species than the fish ponds.
3.3. Emergy indices
The emergy indices calculated in this study (Table 5) were the re-
newability (%R), emergy investment ratio (EIR), emergy yield ratio
(EYR), environmental loading ratio (ELR) and emergy sustainability
index (ESI).
The EYR, the emergy yield ratio (EYR = U/(FR + FN), is the ratio of
total emergy to purchased emergy, and it measures the ability of a

6
J. Sun, et al. Ecological Indicators 107 (2019) 105660

Table 4
Emergy analysis of CFP in the stabilized subsidence area.
Item Unit Renewability factor Raw data Transformity (sej/ Solar emergy (sej/ Reference Emergy flow per ha (sej/ Em-value (EM $)
unit) yr) yr/ha)

Renewable resources
1 Sunlight J 1 2.12E+15 1.00E+00 2.12E+15 Odum (2000) 3.75E+13 2.72E+02
2 Rain chemical J 1 2.15E+12 2.36E+04 5.07E+16 Odum (2000) 8.96E+14 6.50E+03
3 Wind J 1 3.24E+12 1.86E+03 6.03E+15 Odum (2000) 1.07E+14 7.73E+02
Total 2.15E+12 5.07E+16 8.96E+14 6.50E+03

Non-renewable resources
4 Soil loss J 0 8.29E+10 1.72E+04 1.42E+15 Cohen et al. (2006) 2.52E+13 1.82E+02
5 Water J 0 2.24E+10 6.13E+04 1.37E+15 Zhang et al. (2011) 2.42E+13 1.76E+02
Total 1.05E+11 2.79E+15 4.94E+13 3.58E+02

Purchased inputs
6 Fingerlings J 1 2.01E+11 1.59E+07 3.20E+18 Brown and Bardi 5.65E+16 4.10E+05
(2001)
7 Machinery kg 0 2.08E+03 5.24E+12 1.09E+16 Buranakarn (1998) 1.93E+14 1.40E+03
8 Feed J 0.17 8.49E+09 9.96E+04 8.45E+14 Brown and Bardi 1.49E+13 1.08E+02
(2001)
9 Pesticide kg 0 2.36E+04 1.12E+13 2.66E+17 Brandt-Williams 4.70E+15 3.41E+04
(2002)
10 Diesel oil J 0 3.70E+11 7.02E+04 2.60E+16 Bastianoni et al. 4.59E+14 3.33E+03
(2005)
11 Labour J 0.9 1.57E+11 9.42E+05 1.48E+17 Brown and Bardi 2.61E+15 1.89E+04
(2001)
12 Fishery services US$ 0.05 5.29E+05 8.13E+12 4.30E+18 Jiang and Chen 7.60E+16 5.51E+05
(2008)
Total 7.37E+11 7.95E+18 1.40E+17 1.02E+06

Economic income
13 Fish US$ 2.85E+06 8.13E+12 2.32E+19 Jiang and Chen 4.10E+17 2.97E+06
(2008)
Service yield
14 Water regulation kg 4.53E+06 9.99E+08 4.53E+15 Brown and Bardi 8.00E+13 5.80E+02
(2001)
15 Water birds Sp 6 1.41E+17 8.46E+17 Lan et al. (2002) 1.49E+16 1.08E+05
Total 4.53E+06 8.51E+17 1.50E+16 1.09E+05

process to exploit local resources by investing in external resources. It
provides a way to measure the appropriation of local resources by a
process, which can be regarded as a potential contribution to the eco-
system that is achieved via resource investment. As shown in Table 5,
the EYR for the SDPC in the stabilized subsidence area was 3.57, while
the values were 2.64 and 1.01 for the SDPC in the submergence area
and the CFP, respectively.
The ELR, the environmental loading ratio (ELR=(N + FN)/
(R + FR), is an indicator of the pressure that the ecosystem places on
the environment and can be regarded as a measure of system stress
(Zhang et al., 2011). The ELR values of the three systems ranged from
0.39 for the SDPC in the stabilized subsidence area to 0.61 for the SDPC
in the submergence area to 1.23 for the CFP in the stabilized subsidence
area.
The ESI, the emergy sustainability index (ESI = EYR/ELR), is the
ratio of EYR to ELR, and it provides a measure of the potential con-
tribution of a process to the ecosystem per unit area (Zhang et al.,
2011). The ESI values for each ecosystem were 9.12 for the SDPC in the
stabilized subsidence area, 4.31 for the SDPC in the submergence area,
and 0.82 for the CFP in the stabilized subsidence area.
4. Discussion
Emergy is based on thermodynamic theory and is viewed as an
“energy memory”, i.e., the memory of solar energy that supports a
system, considering the previous work by the environment to produce a
good (Scienceman, 1987; Brown and McClanahan, 1996; Brown and
Buranakarn, 2003; Saladini et al., 2016). The concept of emergy is
useful for evaluating systems composed of natural and manmade capital
(Bastianoni and Marchettini, 1997; Barrett and Farina, 2000). In this
study, the flowchart in Fig. 6 shows the emergy evaluation framework
of three ecosystems in the coal-mining subsidence area.
4.1. Emergy analysis of the SDPCs
An emergy diagram of the SDPC (Fig. 5a) illustrates the inputs of
sun, wind, rain, water and soil loss, economic income and ecosystem
services. The primary productivity of plants in the SDPC came mainly
from swamp cypress, Taxodium ‘Zhongshansa’, Reed and Lotus, which
support the entire ecosystem via the food web (Mitsch and Gosselink,
2015; Mitsch, 2017). The energy fixed by the primary production is
transmitted through the food chain by plants-benthic-fish-water birds of
the SDPC. In the process of transmission and transformation, energy is
gradually attenuated, but energy quality is constantly improved (Odum
and Odum, 2003). The primary feedback includes not only purchased
goods but also services, such as the cost of vegetation and manual la-
bour; the sources of income are the selling of Lotus roots. The outputs
include not only the economic benefits of marketing Lotus roots but also
the ecological effects, such as the provisioning of adequate food and
habitat for wildlife, such as water birds. Emergy analysis of the SDPC
(Tables 2 and 3) shows that feedback is the main input flow, and the
plants and water birds are the main output flows.
The ELR values for the SDPCs of the stabilized subsidence area and
the submergence area were 0.39 and 0.61, respectively (Fig. 7a), which
were higher than that of the Guano Tolomato Matanzas National Es-
tuarine Research Reserve (GTM; 0.02) (Brown and Bardi, 2001) be-
cause the ecosystem stress on the GTM estuary due to production ac-
tivity was very low, and 99.21% of the renewable emergy inflows were
from the energy of visitors. However, the ELR value for the SDPC was
similar to that of the Mai Po Wetland Reserve (MP; 0.54) in Hong Kong
(Qin et al., 2000) and the wetlands of the Yan Cheng Biosphere Reserve
(YC; 0.66) in China (Zuo et al., 2004), indicating that these three

7
J. Sun, et al.
Fig. 5. Emergy system diagram of swamp dike-pond complex (a) and contrast fish ponds (b).
ecosystems have similar nonrenewable emergy inputs per unit area. The
EYR values of the two SDPCs were 3.57 and 2.64, respectively (Fig. 7b),
showing that a process of the SDPC in the stabilized subsidence area
was the better use of local resources and made greater contributions to
improving the external environment than the SDPC in the submergence
area (Zhang et al., 2013; Chang et al., 2018). The ESI values for the two
SDPCs were 9.12 and 4.31, respectively (Fig. 7c), which were similar to
that of the Mai Po Wetland Reserve (5.77) but these less than those of
the Guano Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve
(447.89) and the wetlands of the Yan Cheng Biosphere Reserve (50.29)
(Brown and Bardi, 2001; Zuo et al., 2004). A high ESI is indicative of an
ecosystem dominated by flows of renewable emergy resources that have
high and long–term sustainability (González-Mejía and Ma, 2017;
Rutebuka et al., 2018). The SDPCs have lower ESI values than natural
8
Ecological Indicators 107 (2019) 105660
wetland systems, which may be related to the early-successional stage
of the coal-mining subsidence area.
Because SDPCs are allowed to self-organize and self-design free
from anthropogenic disturbances, they will become habitats for an in-
creasing number of water birds and are an effective approach to relieve
habitat pressure on wildlife. According to the energy principle, ecolo-
gical engineering, which combines renewable flows with the flows of
purchased emergies to promote self-organizational processes, should
enhance habitat heterogeneity, and its ecological functions at relevant
spatial and temporal scales maximize the energy flux through the
system (Hooper et al., 2005; Jørgensen et al., 2016). The ecological
design of SDPCs develops feedbacks that increase energy inflows during
early successional stages or improve energy efficiency during later
successional stages. Through feedback, systems reinforce these energy
J. Sun, et al. Ecological Indicators 107 (2019) 105660

Table 5
Category totals and indices calculated for the three systems under study.
Index Symbol or formula SDPC CFP in the stabilized subsidence area

In the stabilized subsidence area In the submergence area

Renewable emergy input R 5.36E+17 9.45E+16 5.07E+16

Non-renewable emergy N 1.19E+16 3.03E+15 2.79E+15
Renewable fraction of purchase resources FR 1.07E+16 2.98E+15 3.55E+18
Non-renewable fraction of purchase resources FN 2.02E+17 5.67E+16 4.40E+18
Total emergy used U=R+N+F 7.61E+17 1.57E+17 8.00E+18
Emergy density ED = U/area 2.84E+15 1.65E+15 1.41E+17
Renewable emergy fraction %R=(R + FR)/U 0.72 0.62 0.45
Emergy investment ratio EIR=(FN + FR)/(R + N) 0.39 0.61 148.53
Emergy yield ratio EYR = U/(FR + FN) 3.57 2.64 1.01
Environmental loading ratio ELR= (N + FN)/(R + FR) 0.39 0.61 1.23
Emergy sustainability index ESI = EYR/ELR 9.12 4.31 0.82

flows and the structures that promote these types of feedbacks. How-
ever, in traditional reclamation activities, purchased emergy, which
should lead to an increase in power flow if the maximum power prin-
ciple holds, is directed to improve the speed of reorganization and re-
pair at a faster rate than what would otherwise occur after significant
environmental impacts (Lu et al., 2017; Cheng et al., 2017).
4.2. Emergy analysis of the CFP
The inputs of the fish pond system significantly differ from those of
the SDPC in the subsidence area (Fig. 5b), which can be seen in the fact
that the CFP’s sole purpose is for economic profit. There are few types of
plants in the CFP because such systems are small and heavily disturbed
by human activities; thus, the primary productivity of plants in the CFP
is much lower than that in the SDPCs. The emergy diagram of the CFP
indicates that the feedback includes not only purchased fingerlings,
feed and machinery but also services, and a significant difference be-
tween SDPC and CFP systems is that the SDPC attracts many more rare
plants and water birds and has many more ecological benefits than the
CFP. Emergy analysis of the CFP (Table 4) shows that feedback is the
main emergy input, and fish production is the major output flow
(Garcia et al., 2017; David et al., 2018).
The ELR for the CFP of the stabilized subsidence area was 1.23,
which was 3.1 times higher than that of the SDPC in the stabilized
subsidence area, suggesting that the pressure on the environment was
mostly derived from the CFP, which greatly depends on large amounts
of nonrenewable emergy, such as diesel oil, machinery, and pesticides.
The EYR of the CFP in the stabilized subsidence area was 1.01, which
was less than that of the SDPC in the stabilized subsidence area. A low
EYR value indicates that a system cannot effectively exploit local nat-
ural resources and can only transform resources from previous pro-
cesses. The ESI value of the CFP was 0.82, which was similar to that of
the intensive pond fish farming of Nansi Lake area (0.38) in China
(Zhang et al., 2011) and was less than that of the two SDPCs (9.12 and
4.31), which suggests that fish culture pond land use, with large-scale
monocultural fish farming, may lead to a loss of landscape and spatial
heterogeneity. Therefore, landscapes become more equal and the mi-
crohabitat quality and diversity decrease in the CFP of stabilized sub-
sidence areas. This confirms the viewpoints of Gossner et al. (2016) and
Chisté et al. (2018) that although the purpose of maintaining the CFP
system by human activities is to receive more economic benefits, en-
vironmental loading usually increases in the surrounding environment,
leading to degradation of soil and water and loss of ecosystem func-
tions.

Fig. 6. The emergy evaluation framework of three ecosystems in the coal-mining subsidence area. The abbreviations are as follows: SDPCSSA, SDPC in the stabilized
subsidence area; SDPCSA, SDPC in the submergence area; CFPSSA, CFP in the stabilized subsidence area.

9
J. Sun, et al.
Fig. 7. Comparison of six ecosystems based emergy indices showing ELR (a), EYR (b) and ESI (c) data. The abbreviations are as follows: SDPCSSA, SDPC in the
stabilized subsidence area; SDPCSA, SDPC in the submergence area; CFPSSA, CFP in the stabilized subsidence area; GTM, Guano Tolomato Matanzas National
Estuarine Research Reserve; YC, Yancheng Biosphere Reserve wetlands; MP, Mai Po Wetland Reserve.
The physical, chemical and biological properties of natural re-
sources dictate the ecological opportunities (Markowicz et al., 2015).
As the quality of natural resources changes, the response of the system
will also change to maintain the maximum power output. In this
manner, systems adjust their thermodynamic performance in ac-
cordance with the changing environment (Odum, 1988; Jørgensen
et al., 2016). The changes in the quality of natural resources affect the
ease and cost of material production in human economies because
lower-quality resources nearly always require more work to be up-
graded into goods and services (Odum, 2007). The fish ponds in the
subsidence corroborated this finding because they brought economic
benefits at the expense of the environment, biodiversity, and stability of
the self-regulating systems.
4.3. Comparative emergy analysis of the three ecosystems
The emergy accounting of three restoration systems are shown in
Tables 2–4. The natural resources used in two SDPCs of the stabilized
subsidence area and the submergence area had an apparently higher
complexity than those of the CFP in the subsidence area, which led to
stronger dependence on the environment resources. The emergy input
of the rainfall chemical energy of the SDPCs in the stabilized subsidence
area and the submergence area respectively accounted for 43.7% and
87.3% of the total renewable resources, indicating that the rainwater
resource was the most important factor for two SDPCs (Lu et al.,
2018a,b; Zhang and Qiu, 2018). However, the CFP in the subsidence
area was enriched mainly by purchased resources, accounting for
99.33% of the total resources. Among the purchased resources of the
CFP, the fingerlings and fishery services were the major components,
which were mainly attributed to the fisheries industrial operations with
fishery production and management demands, such as fish culturing,
harvesting and fishery services (Zhang et al., 2011; David et al., 2018).
In addition, all four emergy indices (ESI, EIR, ELR, and EYR) indicated
that two SDPCs of the stabilized subsidence area and submergence area
were more sustainable than the CFP in the subsidence area, and the
SDPC of the stabilized subsidence was the most sustainable, with the
highest ESI due to having the highest EYR and lowest ELR.
To inform environmental policy making based on emergy analysis,
an emergetic ternary diagram, as proposed by Almeida et al. (2007),
was used (Fig. 8). The ternary diagram has three important compo-
nents: R, N and F (we do not consider the renewability factor). Each
angle of the triangle represents one component, and each side re-
presents a binary system. Reading from zero at the base of the triangle
to 100% at the vertex of the ternary diagram, the composition of a
system can be determined (Yang and Chen, 2016). The size of the points
in Fig. 8 is proportional to the emergy density, illustrating that the two
10
Ecological Indicators 107 (2019) 105660
Fig. 8. Ternary emergy diagram for assessment of three ecosystems.
SDPCs use a larger amount of the emergy available per ha than the CFP.
The ternary diagram indicates that the SDPC in the stabilized sub-
sidence area, the SDPC in the submergence area, and the CFP in the
submergence area use small percentages of nonrenewable emergy
(1.56%, 1.93% and 0.03%, respectively). The SDPCs in the stabilized
subsidence and submergence areas use larger amounts of renewable
inputs (70.45% and 60.14%, respectively), which were higher than that
of the Mai Po Wetland Reserve (MP; 49.2%) in Hong Kong (Qin et al.,
2000) and the wetlands of the Yan Cheng Biosphere Reserve (YC;
37.5%) in China (Zuo et al., 2004), because these two wetland eco-
systems owned some good infrastructure and more production activity,
while the coal mining subsidence areas were usually wildness regions in
their natural state. However, the fish pond farming system uses more
purchased inputs (99.33%), which was close to that of the intensive
pond fish farming of Nansi Lake area (96.17%) in China (Zhang et al.,
2011). These results illustrate that the SDPCs of the stabilized sub-
sidence area and the submergence area mainly depended on renewable
resources from the local environment; for instance, the growth of the
wetland plants mainly depended on soil, rainfall and sunlight (Liu et al.,
2017a,b). In contrast, the CFP system required more purchased and
unnatural resources. This finding explains why the two SDPCs and the
CFP systems were located closer to the R and F vertices, respectively, on
the ternary diagram. Fig. 8 shows that the CFP presents the lowest ESI
value, although it uses fewer nonrenewable natural resources than the
two SDPCs. To achieve better performance, the use of purchased inputs
should be reduced in the CFP. The SDPCs in the stabilized subsidence
and submergence areas presented the best performance, revealing that
they contribute to the ecosystem via low environmental loads, and
J. Sun, et al.
these systems have a higher utilization efficiency of natural resources.
The CFP obtained an ESI of less than one, implying that the ecosystem
imports more resources and gradually results in unsustainable devel-
opment (Lu et al., 2018a,b).
Compared with that of the CFP in the stabilized subsidence area, the
respective ecosystem service values were 1.52E + 17 sej/yr/ha
(5.23E + 06 EM-US$/yr) for the SDPC in the stabilized subsidence area
and 2.90E + 16 sej/yr/ha (9.95E + 05 EM-US$/yr) for the SDPC in the
submergence area, which were 10.1 and 1.9 times higher than that of
the CFP, respectively. This finding suggests that vegetation, faunal
communities and functional hydrology, which support the entire eco-
system via the food web, can be restored in the SDPC, and restored
wetlands can provide economic and ecological benefits via the return of
their ecological services and functions (Mitsch and Gosselink, 2015; Liu
et al., 2016). Coscieme et al. (2014) and Lu et al. (2017) proved that
reforestation can not only accelerate the restoration of ecosystems but
also reinforce the efficiency of ecosystem services. In addition, coal-
mining subsidence areas are characterized by high temporal and spatial
variability. The habitat types of the SDPCs are complex and diverse,
including features such as deep water, shallow water and beaches as
well as land that has not yet been filled with water but whose surface
has been deformed. The mosaic distribution of plant communities
greatly improves the spatial heterogeneity of the SDPC area, which is
often evidence of a large variety of habitats and can accommodate
various functional groups of organisms, thereby increasing an ecosys-
tem’s capacity to buffer disturbances, confirming the hypothesis made
by Chisté et al. (2018). In addition, we fortunately found two Near
Threatened species (e.g., Baer's pochard and reed parrotbill) and a new
species of hornwort, Ceratophyllum taipingense, in the SDPC area. This
confirmed the viewpoints of Krodkiewska and Królczyk (2011) and
Strzelec et al. (2014) that coal-mining subsidence areas are often va-
luable refuges for vulnerable or rare species.
Species
ES
EF
Domain of new
ecosystem
Degraded
ecosystem
Ecosystem stucture
Fig. 9. The differences of ecological restoration and reclamation.
11
Ecological Indicators 107 (2019) 105660
The difference in the two modes of the SDPC and CFP relates to the
differences in the end points expected from the respective processes
(Kangas, 2003), and these end points may be very different, as in-
dicated in Fig. 9. The SDPC stresses that human beings should use
nature as a teacher and allow nature to self-design and self-organize
(Odum and Odum, 2003; Capra, 2010); therefore, this SDPC mode of
coal-mining submergence areas leaves the restoration work to natural
processes. Although the structure and function of a new system are
often different from those of the original (Tian et al., 2015; Liu et al.,
2016), the SDPC especially aims at enhancing biodiversity, while the
aim of the CFP is to obtain economic benefit. In this study, both the
species abundance and diversity of the flora and fauna in the SDPC
were significantly higher than those of the CFP. The two SDPCs in the
stabilized subsidence area and submergence area were disturbed by
mineral extraction in the 1980s and in 2014, and the SDPC plants are
currently more abundant than those of the surrounding nonsubsidence
area. The wetland landscape appeared in the five years since sub-
mergence, and the plant community structure of the stabilized sub-
sidence area climaxed more than two decades later in an obvious eco-
logical sequence. These findings strongly indicate that these areas are
still recovering from the perturbations of the subsidence and are at an
early successional stage (Strzelec et al., 2014). Compared to that in
SDPCs, the biodiversity associated with fish ponds is lacking because
these systems are heavily impacted by human activities. These results
confirm the hypothesis that intermediate levels of disturbance provide
the greatest energy subsidy to the ecosystem, while low levels of dis-
turbance provide less energy; high levels of disturbance act as a stress
rather than a subsidy (Connell, 1978; Bai et al., 2018). The circulation
of emergy flows for two SDPCs revealed promising self-organization
and renewability for the ecosystems, indicating that as an ecological
practice, The SDPC can feasibly ensure highly efficient resource utili-
zation and energy recycling with better ecological and economic
Species
Vegetation
Animal
Microbial
Brids
EF ES
Ecological
service
Habitat
provision
Carbon sink
J. Sun, et al.
benefits, lower environmental loading, and a higher level of sustain-
ability than the CFP system.
5. Conclusion
Emergy analysis and emergetic ternary diagrams, accounting for the
contributions to a process/system from both the economy and the en-
vironment on the basis of equality, are suitable for assessing the sus-
tainability of ecological engineering. We used these methods to identify
the appropriate ecological restoration mode in a coal-mining sub-
sidence area by quantifying the inputs to three systems under two
modes of restoration (SDPC and CFP). Our results show that the SDPC
was most dependent on renewable resources and was made to maintain
the natural mechanisms of matter and energy flow regulation as much
as possible; however, the CFP was more dependent on the fraction of
purchased inputs and nonrenewable inputs from the outside. The eco-
system service economic values for the SDPC in the stabilized sub-
sidence area and in the submergence area were 10.1 and 1.9 times
higher than that of the CFP in the stabilized subsidence area, respec-
tively. Therefore, as an ecological practice, the SDPC can feasibly en-
sure highly efficient resource utilization and energy recycling and
provide better ecological and economic benefits, lower environmental
loading, and a higher level of sustainability than the CFP system.
Traditional CFP modes focus on economic benefits but often ignore
environmental externalities, which has resulted in policies paying
limited attention to the environment and the entire ecosystem.
However, the SDPC mode is an ecosystem-based approach, which not
only provides economic benefits but also sustains the integrity of the
attributes and re-establishes the process of self-organization in coal-
mining subsidence areas. This SDPC mode serves as a model for new
explorations of the ecological restoration of coal-mining subsidence
areas, providing engineering demonstration and reference for other
mineral-rich countries with similarly large subsidence areas.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the Foundation of the State Key
Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing
University (2011DA105287-ZD201402), the Foundation of National
Science and Technology Major Project (2013ZX07104-004-05), the
Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2019MC058),
and the Science and Technology Projects of Higher Education in
Shandong Province (J18KB084).
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105660.
References
Adams, J., Robbins, H., 1988. The fauna of mining subsidence pools in Northumberland.
Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Northumbria 55, 28–38.
Agostinho, F., Diniz, G., Siche, R., Ortega, E., 2008. The use of emergy assessment and the
Geographical Information System in the diagnosis of small family farms in Brazil.
Ecol. Model. 210 (1–2), 37–57.
Almeida, C.M.V.B., Barrella, F.A., Giannetti, B.F., 2007. Emergetic ternary diagrams: five
examples for application in environmental accounting for decision-making. J Clean
Prod. 15 (1), 63–74.
Altun, A.O., Yilmaz, I., Yildirim, M., 2010. A short review on the surficial impacts of
underground mining. Sci. Res. Essays 5 (21), 3206–3212.
Bai, Y., Yu, Z., Yang, Q., Wan, H., Huang, J., Ji, B., Li, A., 2018. Mechanisms regulating
the productivity and stability of artificial grasslands in China: issues, progress, and
prospects. Chin. Sci. Bull. 63 (5–6), 511–520.
Barrett, G.W., Farina, A., 2000. Integrating ecology and economics. Bioscience 50 (4),
311–312.
Bastianoni, S., Campbell, D., Susani, L., Tiezzi, E., 2005. The solar transformity of oil and
petroleum natural gas. Ecol. Model. 186 (2), 212–220.
Bastianoni, S., Marchettini, N., 1997. Emergy/exergy ratio as a measure of the level of
organization of systems. Ecol. Model. 99 (1), 33–40.
12
Ecological Indicators 107 (2019) 105660
Bian, Z.F., Inyang, H.I., Daniels, J.L., Otto, F., Struthers, S., 2010. Environmental issues
from coal mining and their solutions. Min. Sci. Technol. (China) 20 (2), 215–223.
Blachowski, J., 2016. Application of GIS spatial regression methods in assessment of land
subsidence in complicated mining conditions: case study of the Walbrzych coal mine
(SW Poland). Nat. Hazards 84 (2), 997–1014.
BP, 2018. Statistical Reviews of World Energy. www.bp.com/statisticalreview.
Brandt-Williams, S.L., 2002. Handbook of Emergy Evaluation, Folio #4. Center for
Environmental Policy, Environmental Engineering Sciences, Univ. of Florida,
Gainesville. Available at: http://www.emergysystems.org/folios.php.
Brown, M.T., Bardi, E., 2001. Handbook of Emergy Evaluation, Folio #3. Center for
Environmental Policy, Environmental Engineering Sciences, Univ. of Florida,
Gainesville. Available at: http://www.emergysystems.org/folios.php.
Brown, M.T., Buranakarn, V., 2003. Emergy indices and ratios for sustainable material
cycles and recycle options. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 38 (1), 1–22.
Brown, M.T., Campbell, D.E., De Vilbiss, C., Ulgiati, S., 2016. The geobiosphere emergy
baseline: a synthesis. Ecol. Model. 33, 92–95.
Brown, M.T., Herendeen, R.A., 1996. Embodied energy analysis and EMERGY analysis: a
comparative view. Ecol. Econ. 19 (3), 219–235.
Brown, M.T., McClanahan, T.R., 1996. EMergy analysis perspectives of Thailand and
Mekong river dam proposals. Ecol. Model. 91 (1–3), 105–130.
Brown, M.T., Odum, H.T., Murphy, R.C., Christianson, R.A., Doherty, S.J., McClanahan,
T.R., Tennenbaum, S.E., 1995. Rediscovery of the world: developing an interface of
ecology and economics. In: Maximum Power: The Ideas and Applications of HT
Odum, pp. 216–250.
Brown, M.T., Ulgiati, S., 1997. Emergy-based indices and ratios to evaluate sustainability:
monitoring economies and technology toward environmentally sound innovation.
Ecol. Eng. 9 (1–2), 51–69.
Buranakarn, V., 1998. Evaluation of recycle and reuse of building materials using the
emergy analysis method: evaluation of recycle and reuse of building materials using
the emergy analysis method thesis. University of Florida.
Campbell, D.E., 1998. Emergy analysis of human carrying capacity and regional sus-
tainability: an example using the state of Maine. Environ. Monit. Assess. 51 (1–2),
531–569.
Campbell, D.E., Brandt-Williams, S.L., Meisch, M.E.A., 2005. Environmental Accounting
Using Emergy: Evaluation of the State of West Virginia. USEPA, Office of Research
and Development, Wshington, DC.
Capra, F., 2010. The Tao of Physics. Shambhala, Boston, MA.
Cavalett, O., Queiroz, J.F.d., Ortega, E., 2006. Emergy assessment of integrated produc-
tion systems of grains, pig and fish in small farms in the South Brazil. Ecol. Model.
193 (3–4), 205–224.
Chang, T., Yang, D., Huo, J., Xia, F., Zhang, Z., 2018. Evaluation of oasis sustainability
based on emergy and decomposition analysis. Sustainability 10 (6), 1–14.
Chen, Z.Y., Nie, Z.L., Zhang, Z.J., Qi, J.X., Nan, Y.J., 2005. Isotopes and sustainability of
ground water resources, North China Plain. Ground Water 43 (4), 485–493.
Cheng, F., Lu, H.F., Ren, H., Zhou, L., Zhang, L., Li, J., Lu, X.J., Huang, D.W., Zhao, D.,
2017. Integrated emergy and economic evaluation of three typical rocky desertifi-
cation control modes in karst areas of Guizhou Province, China. J. Clean. Prod. 161,
1104–1128.
Chisté, M.N., Mody, K., Kunz, G., Gunczy, J., Blüthgen, N., 2018. Intensive land use drives
small-scale homogenization of plant-and leafhopper communities and promotes
generalists. Oecologia 186 (2), 529–540.
Cohen, M.J., Brown, M.T., Shepherd, K.D., 2006. Estimating the environmental costs of
soil erosion at multiple scales in Kenya using emergy synthesis. Agric. Ecosyst.
Environ. 114 (2–4), 249–269.
Connell, J.H., 1978. Diversity in tropical rain forests and coral reefs. Science 199 (4335),
1302–1310.
Coppin, N.J., Bradshaw, A.D., 1982. Quarry Reclamation. England, Mining Journal Books
Ltd, London.
Coscieme, L., Pulselli, F.M., Marchettini, N., Sutton, P.C., Anderson, S., Sweeney, S., 2014.
Emergy and ecosystem services: a national biogeographical assessment. Ecosyst.
Services 7, 152–159.
Cui, B.S., Yang, Q.C., Yang, Z.F., Zhang, K.J., 2009. Evaluating the ecological perfor-
mance of wetland restoration in the Yellow River Delta, China. Ecol. Eng. 35 (7),
1090–1103.
David, L.H.C., Pinho, S.M., Garcia, F., 2018. Improving the sustainability of tilapia cage
farming in Brazil: an emergy approach. J. Clean. Prod. 201, 1012–1018.
Dolny, A., Harabis, F., 2012. Underground mining can contribute to freshwater biodi-
versity conservation: allogenic succession forms suitable habitats for dragonflies.
Biol. Conserv. 145 (1), 109–117.
Dong, S.C., Samsonov, S., Yin, H., Yao, S.P., Xu, C., 2014. Spatio-temporal analysis of
ground subsidence due to underground coal mining in Huainan coalfield, China.
Environ. Earth Sci. 73 (9), 5523–5534.
Donnelly, L.J., Culshaw, M.G., Bell, F.G., 2008. Longwall mining-induced fault re-
activation and delayed subsidence ground movement in British coalfields. Q. J. Eng.
Geol. Hydrogen 41 (3), 301–314.
Düzgün, Ş., Künzer, C., Özgen Karacan, C., 2011. Applications of remote sensing and GIS
for monitoring of coal fires, mine subsidence, environmental impacts of coal-mine
closure and reclamation. Int. J. Coal Geol. 86 (1), 1–2.
Fonseca, C.R., Diaz-Delgado, C., Esteller, M.V., Garcia-Pulido, D., 2017. Geoinformatics
tool with an emergy accounting approach for evaluating the sustainability of water
systems: case study of the Lerma river. Mexico. Ecol. Eng. 99, 436–453.
Foster, S., Garduno, H., Evans, R., Olson, D., Tian, Y., Zhang, W., Han, Z., 2004.
Quaternary aquifer of the North China Plain? Assessing and achieving groundwater
resource sustainability. Hydrogeol. J. 12 (1), 81–93.
Garcia, F., Sabbag, O.J., Kimpara, J.M., Romera, D.M., Sousa, N.S., Onaka, E.M., Ramos,
I.P., 2017. Periphyton-based cage culture of Nile tilapia: an interesting model for
J. Sun, et al.
small-scale farming. Aquaculture 479, 838–844.
González-Mejía, A.M., Ma, X.C., 2017. The emergy perspective of sustainable trends in
Puerto Rico from 1960 to 2013. Ecol. Econ. 133, 11–22.
Gossner, M.M., Lewinsohn, T.M., Kahl, T., Grassein, F., Boch, S., Prati, D., Arndt, H.,
2016. Land-use intensification causes multitrophic homogenization of grassland
communities. Nature 540 (7632), 266.
Hooper, D.U., Chapin, F.S., Ewel, J.J., Hector, A., Inchausti, P., Lavorel, S., Lawton, J.H.,
Lodge, D.M., Loreau, M., Naeem, S., Schmid, B., Setälä, H., Symstad, A.J.,
Vandermeer, J., Schmid, B., 2005. Effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: a
consensus of current knowledge. Ecol. Monogr. 75 (1), 3–35.
Hu, Z.Q., 1996. Subsidence Land Management and Reclamation in Coal Mining Areas.
Coal Industry Press, Beijing.
Hu, Z.Q., Hu, F., Li, J.H., Li, H.X., 1997. Impact of coal mining subsidence on farmland in
eastern China. Int. J. Surf. Min. Reclam. Environ. 11 (2), 91–94.
Hu, Z.Q., Xiao, W., 2012. Optimization of concurrent mining and reclamation plans for
single coal seam: a case study in northern Anhui, China. Environ. Earth Sci. 68 (5),
1247–1254.
Hu, Z.Q., Yang, G.H., Xiao, W., Li, J., Yang, Y.Q., Yu, Y., 2014. Farmland damage and its
impact on the overlapped areas of cropland and coal resources in the eastern plains of
China. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 86, 1–8.
Jiang, M.M., Chen, G.Q., 2008. Emergy Analysis of Chinese Society 1980–2008. Systems
Ecology Reports. Peking University, National Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex
Systems.
Jørgensen, S.E., Xu, L., Costanza, R., 2016. Handbook of Ecological Indicators for
Assessment of Ecosystem Health. CRC Press.
Kang, S., Eltahir, E.A.B., 2018. North China Plain threatened by deadly heatwaves due to
climate change and irrigation. Nat. Commun. 9 (1), 2894.
Kangas, P.C., 2003. Ecological Engineering Principles and Practice. CRC Press.
Krodkiewska, M., Królczyk, A., 2011. Impact of environmental conditions on bottom
oligochaete communities in subsidence ponds (The Silesian Upland, Southern
Poland). Int. Rev. Hydrobiol. 96 (1), 48–57.
Lan, H.F., Qin, P., Lu, H.F., 2002. Energy Analysis of Eco-Economic System. Chemical
Industry Press, Beijing.
Li, B., Xiao, H.Y., Yuan, X.Z., Willison, J.H.M., Liu, H., Chen, Z.L., Zhang, Y.W., Deng, W.,
Yue, J.S., 2013. Analysis of ecological and commercial benefits of a dike-pond project
in the drawdown zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir. Ecol. Eng. 61, 1–11.
Li, X.X., Yang, W., Sun, T., Su, L.Y., 2019. Framework of multidimensional macrobenthos
biodiversity to evaluate ecological restoration in wetlands. Environ. Res. Lett. 14.
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab142c.
Liu, G.D., Tian, K., Sun, J.F., Xiao, D.R., Yuan, X.Z., 2016. Evaluating the effects of
wetland restoration at the watershed scale in Northwest Yunnan Plateau, China.
Wetlands 36 (1), 169–183.
Liu, G.D., Sun, J.F., Tian, K., Xiao, D.R., Yuan, X.Z., 2017a. Long-term responses of leaf
litter decomposition to temperature, litter quality and litter mixing in plateau wet-
lands. Freshwat. Biol. 62 (1), 178–190.
Liu, G.D., Sun, J.F., Tian, K., Yuan, X.Z., An, S.B., Wang, H., 2017b. Litter decomposition
of emergent plants along an elevation gradient in wetlands of Yunnan Plateau, China.
Chin. Geogr. Sci. 27 (5), 760–771.
Lu, H.F., Cai, C.J., Zeng, X.S., Campbell, D.E., Fan, S.H., Liu, G.L., 2018b. Bamboo vs.
crops: an integrated emergy and economic evaluation of using bamboo to replace
crops in south Sichuan Province, China. J. Clean. Prod. 177, 464–473.
Lu, H.F., Campbell, D.E., 2009. Ecological and economic dynamics of the Shunde agri-
cultural system under China's small city development strategy. J. Environ. Manage.
90 (8), 2589–2600.
Lu, H.F., Campbell, E.T., Campbell, D.E., Wang, C., Ren, H., 2017. Dynamics of ecosystem
services provided by subtropical forests in Southeast China during succession as
measured by donor and receiver value. Ecosyst. Services 23, 248–258.
Lu, F., Hu, H.F., Sun, W.J., Zhu, J.J., Liu, G.B., Zhou, W.M., Zhang, Q.F., Shi, P.L., Liu,
X.P., Wu, X., Zhang, L., Wei, X.H., Dai, L.M., Zhang, K.R., Sun, Y.R., Xue, S., Zhang,
W.J., Xiong, D.P., Deng, L., Liu, B.J., Zhou, L., Zhang, C., Zheng, X., Cao, J.S., Huang,
Y., Liu, G.H., Yu, G.R., 2018a. Effects of national ecological restoration projects on
carbon sequestration in China from 2001 to 2010. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
201700294, 1–6.
Lu, Y.T., Tang, C.Y., Chen, J.Y., Song, X.F., Li, F.D., Sakura, Y., 2008. Spatial character-
istics of water quality, stable isotopes and tritium associated with groundwater flow
in the Hutuo River alluvial fan plain of the North China Plain. Hydrogeol. J. 16 (5),
1003–1015.
Lu, H.F., Wang, Z.H., Campbell, D.E., Ren, H., Wang, J., 2011. Emergy and eco-exergy
evaluation of four forest restoration modes in southeast China. Ecol. Eng. 37 (2),
277–285.
Markowicz, A., Woźniak, G., Borymski, S., Piotrowska-Seget, Z., Chmura, D., 2015. Links
in the functional diversity between soil microorganisms and plant communities
during natural succession in coal mine spoil heaps. Ecol. Res. 30 (6), 1005–1014.
Marschalko, M., Yilmaz, I., Lamich, D., Drusa, M., Kubečková, D., Peňaz, T., Burkotová,
T., Slivka, V., Bednárik, M., Krčmář, D., Duraj, M., Sochorková, A., 2013. Unique
documentation, analysis of origin and development of an undrained depression in a
subsidence basin caused by underground coal mining (Kozinec, Czech Republic).
Environ. Earth Sci. 72 (1), 11–20.
Matzek, V., Wilson, K.A., Kragt, M., 2019. Mainstreaming of ecosystem services as a ra-
tionale for ecological restoration in Australia. Ecosyst. serv. 35, 79–86.
Mitsch, W.J., 2012. What is ecological engineering? Ecol. Eng. 45, 5–12.
Mitsch, W.J., 2017. Solving Lake Erie’s harmful algal blooms by restoring the Great Black
Swamp in Ohio. Ecol. Eng. 108, 406–413.
Mitsch, W.J., Gosselink, J.G., 2015. Wetlands. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken New Jersey.
Molenda, T., 2015. Changes in the morphometry of fish breeding ponds under the in-
fluence of mining subsidence. Inżynieria Ekologiczna 42, 36–41.
13
Ecological Indicators 107 (2019) 105660
Odum, H.T., 1988. Self-organization, transformity, and information. Science 242 (4882),
1132–1139.
Odum, H.T., 2000. Handbook of Emergy Evaluation, Folio #2. Center for Environmental
Policy, Environmental Engineering Sciences, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville. Available
at: http://www.emergysystems.org/folios.php.
Odum, H.T., 2007. Environment, power, and society for the twenty-first century: the
hierarchy of energy. Columbia University Press, New York.
Odum, H.T., Odum, B., 2003. Concepts and methods of ecological engineering. Ecol. Eng.
20 (5), 339–361.
Orr, C.H., Stanley, E.H., Wilson, K.A., Finlay, J.C., 2007. Effects of restoration and re-
flooding on soil denitrification in a leveed Midwestern floodplain. Ecol. Appl. 17 (8),
2365–2376.
Ortega, E., Cavalett, O., Bonifácio, R., Watanabe, M., 2016. Brazilian soybean production:
emergy analysis with an expanded scope. Bull. Sci. Technol. Soc. 25 (4), 323–334.
Pan, H.Y., Geng, Y., Tian, X., Wilosn, J., Chen, W., Zhong, S., Song, X., 2019. Emergy-
based environmental accounting of one mining system. Eenviron. Sci. Pollut. Res. 26
(14), 14598–14615.
Pescador, M., Díaz, S., Peris, S., 2012. Abundances of waterbird species on lakes in
Argentine Patagonia as a function of season, lake size and the presence of mink.
Hydrobiologia 697 (1), 111–125.
Qin, P., Huang, Y.S., Tan, F.Y., 2000. Energy analysis of ecological function of MaiPo
natural reserve. Chin. Nat. Mag. 21 (2), 104–107.
Ren, L.Y., Wu, C.F., Yue, W.Z., 2009. Energy analysis of ecological economic system of
Xixi National Wetland Park. Acta Ecol. Sin. 29 (3), 1285–1291.
Rey, F., Bifulco, C., Bischetti, G.B., Bourrier, F., De Cesare, G., Florineth, F., Graf, F.,
Marden, M., Mickovski, S.B., Phillips, C., Peklo, K., Peosen, J., Polster, D., Preti, F.,
Rauch, H.P., Raymond, P., Sangalli, P., Tardio, G., Stokes, A., 2018. Practice and
research needs for reconciling natural hazard control and ecological restoration. Sci.
Total Environ. 648 (15), 1210–1218.
Rutebuka, E., Zhang, L., Asamoah, E.F., Pang, M., Rukundo, E., 2018. Resource dynamism
of the rwandan economy: an emergy approach. Sustainability 10 (6), 1–19.
Saladini, F., Patrizi, N., Pulselli, F.M., Marchettini, N., Bastianoni, S., 2016. Guidelines for
emergy evaluation of first, second and third generation biofuels. Renew. Sustain.
Energy Rev. 66, 221–227.
Scienceman, D.M., 1987. Energy and emergy. Environ. Econ. 257–276.
Song, D., Lin, L., Wu, Y., 2019. Emergy analysis of a typical New Suspension Preheaters
cement plant in China. J. Clean. Prod. 222 (10), 407–413.
Steven, D.D., Lowrance, R., 2011. Agricultural conservation practices and wetland eco-
system services in the wetland-rich piedmont-coastal plain region. Ecol. Appl. 21 (3),
3–17.
Strzelec, M., Krodkiewska, M., Królczyk, A., 2014. The impact of environmental factors on
the diversity of gastropod communities in sinkhole ponds in a coal mining region
(Silesian Upland, Southern Poland). Biologia 69 (6), 780–789.
Sun, J.F., Yuan, X.Z., Liu, H., Wu, S.K., 2019. A study on polder design in Yunmeng Marsh
based on ecological models. Acta Ecol. Sin. 21. https://doi.org/10.5846/
stxb201806151338.
Tian, K., Liu, G.D., Xiao, D.R., Sun, J.F., Lu, M., Huang, Y.C., Lin, P., 2015. Ecological
effects of Dam impoundment on closed and half-closed wetlands in China. Wetlands
35, 889–898.
Todd, J., Brown, E.J.G., Wells, E., 2003. Ecological design applied. Ecol. Eng. 20 (5),
421–440.
Ulgiati, S., Odum, H.T., Bastianoni, S., 1994. Emergy use, environmental loading and
sustainability an emergy analysis of Italy. Ecol. Model. 73 (3–4), 215–268.
Van Swaay, C.A.M., 2002. The importance of calcareous grasslands for butterflies in
Europe. Biol. Conserv. 104 (3), 315–318.
Wang, Z.L., Zhang, Q.B., Li, R., 2009. Study on flood resources comprehensive utilization
and ecological restoration technology of coal mining depressed area. J. Nat. Resour.
24 (7), 1156–1162.
Watanabe, M.D.B., Ortega, E., 2014. Dynamic emergy accounting of water and carbon
ecosystem services: a model to simulate the impacts of land-use change. Ecol. Model.
271, 113–131.
Willison, J.H., Li, R., Yuan, X., 2013. Conservation and ecofriendly utilization of wetlands
associated with the Three Gorges Reservoir. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. Int. 20 (10),
6907–6916.
Wood, P.J., Greenwood, M.T., Barker, S.A., Gunn, J., 2001. The effects of amenity
management for angling on the conservation value of aquatic invertebrate commu-
nities in old industrial ponds. Biol. Conserv. 102 (1), 17–29.
Wu, C., Xu, Q.H., Ma, Y.H., Zhang, X.Q., 1996. Palaeochannel on the North China Plain:
palaeoriver geomorphology. Geomorphology 18 (9), 37–45.
Xiao, W., Hu, Z.Q., Chugh, Y.P., Zhao, Y.L., 2013. Dynamic subsidence simulation and
topsoil removal strategy in high groundwater table and underground coal mining
area: a case study in Shandong Province. Int. J. Min. Reclam. Environ. 28 (4),
250–263.
Yang, J., Chen, B., 2016. Emergy-based sustainability evaluation of wind power gen-
eration systems. Appl. Energy 177, 239–246.
Yuan, X.Z., Du, C.L., Yuan, J., 2017. Multi-functional dike-pond system adaptive to water
Level change: application of pond-based ecological wisdom in ecological restoration
of the hydro- fluctuation Belt of the Three Gorges Reservoir. Landscape Arch. Front. 1
(5), 9–21.
Yuan, X.Z., Hou, Y.T., Zhang, G.X., 2018. Study on Biodiversity of New Created Wetland
in Coal Mining Subsidence Area. Science Press, Beijing.
Zhang, Y., Liu, J., Zhang, J., Wang, R., 2013. Emergy-based evaluation of system sus-
tainability and ecosystem value of a large-scale constructed wetland in North China.
Environ. Monit. Assess. 185 (7), 5595–5609.
Zhang, C., Qiu, L., 2018. Comprehensive sustainability assessment of a biogas-linked
agro-ecosystem: a case study in China. Clean Technol. Environ. Pol. 1–14.
J. Sun, et al.
Zhang, L.X., Ulgiati, S., Yang, Z.F., Chen, B., 2011. Emergy evaluation and economic
analysis of three wetland fish farming systems in Nansi Lake area, China. J. Environ.
Manage. 92 (3), 683–694.
Zhang, Q.Y., Yuan, X.Z., Diao, Y.B., Liu, H., Zhang, G.X., Zhang, M.J., Zhou, L.L., Wang,
X.F., 2017. The avian community structure and diversity on newly created wetlands
in a coal mining subsidence area. Chin. J. Wildlife 38 (3), 447–454.
Zhang, G.X., Yuan, X.Z., Wang, K.H., 2019. Biodiversity and temporal patterns of mac-
rozoobenthos in a coal mining subsidence area in North China. PeerJ. https://doi.
org/10.7717/peerj.6456.
14
Ecological Indicators 107 (2019) 105660
Zheng, G.M., 2018. A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of the Birds of
China, third ed. Science Press, Beijing.
Zou, Z.G., Zeng, F.P., Wang, K.L., Zeng, Z.X., Zhao, L.L., Du, H., Zhang, F., Zhang, H.,
2019. Emergy and economic evaluation of seven typical agroforestry planting pat-
terns in the karst region of Southwest China. Forests 10, 138. https://doi.org/10.
3390/f10020138.
Zuo, P., Wan, S.W., Qin, P., Du, J.J., Wang, H., 2004. A comparison of the sustainability of
original and constructed wetlands in Yancheng Biosphere Reserve, China: implica-
tions from emergy evaluation. Environ. Sci. Pol. 7 (4), 329–343.