Surface coal extraction exerts substantial influences on the structure and function of ecosystems throughout the central Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America. In particular, the flattening of local terrain following surface mining predisposes many areas to incidental wetland formation, with other wetlands being intentionally constructed on former surface mines for stormwater control and mine drainage remediation. Past work has examined local-scale patterns in the water quality, floral assemblages, and wildlife use of mine-associated wetlands, although little to no information currently exists on landscape-scale patterns of wetland formation in response to surface mining. We inventoried naturally-occurring wetlands and wetlands associated with surface mining in the Guest River watershed in Wise County, Virginia, USA, one of the most heavily surface-mined watersheds in the Virginia coalfields. We found evidence of substantial wetland creation as a result of surface mining at the landscape scale, with mine-associated wetlands being located at significantly higher elevations, in different vegetative contexts, and significantly closer to nearby wetlands than unmined wetlands in the same watershed. Our results suggest that surface mining is a major source of wetland creation across the central Appalachian coalfields with potentially significant, landscape-scale implications for hydrological patterns, wetland-associated wildlife, and the distribution of wetland flora.

露天煤炭开采对北美东部阿巴拉契亚山脉中部生态系统的结构和功能产生重大影响。特别是，露天采矿后当地地形的平坦化使许多地区容易形成湿地，而其他湿地则有意在以前的露天矿山上建造，用于雨水控制和矿山排水整治。过去的工作已经研究了与矿山相关的湿地的水质、花卉组合和野生动物利用的局部规模模式，尽管目前关于地表采矿导致的湿地形成的景观规模模式的信息很少甚至没有。我们清查了美国弗吉尼亚州怀斯县盖斯特河流域的自然湿地和与地表采矿相关的湿地，该流域是弗吉尼亚煤田地表采矿最严重的流域之一。我们发现了景观尺度上的地表采矿造成大量湿地形成的证据，与采矿相关的湿地位于不同的植被环境中，海拔明显更高，并且比同一流域中未采矿的湿地更靠近附近的湿地。我们的研究结果表明，露天采矿是阿巴拉契亚中部煤田湿地形成的主要来源，对水文模式、湿地相关野生动物和湿地植物区系的分布具有潜在的重大景观规模影响。