Suburban open-pit mining concentration areas are both the frontline of urban expansion and the main battlefield in mineral resource development. These dual forces have resulted in significant land use/cover changes (LUCC), which play a crucial role in determining the ecological environment quality (EEQ). However, research examining how LUCC affects EEQ under the coupled impact of these two development events is currently lacking. In this study, the response of EEQ to LUCC was evaluated using Landsat images from 2000, 2010, and 2020 for the southern suburban open-pit mining concentration area in Jinan City. A relative contribution index was used to address the ecological and environmental effects of non-dominant land use/cover types, and the impact of LUCC on EEQ and its spatial spillover effects were revealed by also carrying out a buffer zone analysis. The findings of this study indicate that: (1) the dominant land use/cover types that influence the EEQ spatial pattern are farmland, grassland, and construction land. Among them, the area of farmland was the largest, with more than 1800 $\mathrm{k}{\mathrm{m}}^2$. Changes in non-dominant land use/cover types to mining land and mine rehabilitation made the most significant relative contribution to the changes in EEQ, i.e., 0.0735 and 0.0184, respectively. (2) The transformation of farmland into construction land and mining land and woodland into mining land was shown to exacerbate the deterioration of the EEQ in the study area, with a deterioration area of 1367.54 $\mathrm{k}{\mathrm{m}}^2$ and spatial spillovers of up to 1000 m. (3) Returning farmland to woodland and grassland, as well as returning mine rehabilitation, were found to be the main factors contributing to the improvement of EEQ in the study area, with an improvement area of 1335.67 $\mathrm{k}{\mathrm{m}}^2$ and spatial spillover extending from 500 to 800 m. (4) Nevertheless, uneven changes in land use/cover continue to aggravate the agglomerative effect of EEQ deterioration. Further refinement and enhancement of the methods and standards of ecological governance are urgently needed to counterbalance the uneven spatial spillover effects between ecological degradation and improvement. This study provides a scientific reference for the promotion of ecological protection and sustainable development in mining cities.

Urban expansion is a major anthropogenic driver of ecosystem service degradation, and its effects differ significantly among expansion patterns and city types. This study selects Jinan, a megacity in Shandong Province, and Dongying, a resource-based city, as study areas. Based on 2000–2020 land cover data, we identified the key urban expansion patterns that lead to ecosystem service losses. We used a built-up land source matrix to analyze the land composition of newly developed built-up areas and adopted the Landscape Expansion Index (LEI) to classify urban expansion into three types: edge-expansion, infilling, and leapfrog expansion. We quantified losses of five core ecosystem services—carbon sequestration, water yield, food production, habitat quality, and soil retention—to identify which expansion pattern exerted the most significant impact on ecosystem service degradation. We further compared loss differences and underlying mechanisms to propose differentiated urban strategies. The results indicate that cultivated land was the primary source in Jinan, while Dongying’s sources were more diverse. Edge-expansion dominated both cities, with a higher proportion in Dongying. Jinan showed a greater increase in leapfrog expansion, and infilling expansion was limited. Leapfrog expansion caused the most severe losses for most services, while edge-expansion dominated food production loss via farmland occupation. This study provides a scientific basis for optimizing spatial development and coordinating urban expansion with ecological conservation.