Prediction of vegetation restoration by erosion control works in Asio copper mine, Japan

At devastated land around the Asio copper mine and the progress of vegetation restoration was studied using remote sensing and GIS. Vegetation restoration was studied to evaluate the success of erosion control works (revegetation works). To estimate vegetation status using vegetation index, Mitscherlich´s growth curve was applied to the restoration process in both the works area and non works area. The restoration speed was expressed with a function of topography and geological data etc. It was shown that the average restoration speed in the works area was twice as much as that in the non works area. Further, it was found that vegetation restoration speed had a high correlation to proximity to remaining vegetation. It suggests that large scale forest destruction makes natural vegetation restoration difficult. Using the determined growth curve, vegetation restoration was predicted for 200 years under several scenarios. As a result, the remarkable effect of erosion control works for vegetation restoration was shown