Ecological Risks of Emerging Pollutants in Urbanizing Regions

This book characterizes the major pollution patterns of emerging contaminants, such as sources, emission effluents, temporal and spatial distributions, multi-media transportation and transformation processes, exposure pathways to ecosystems and humans, and ecological risks. Based on this, it establishes an urbanizing region management concept and highlights how urbanization and its regional ecology have evolved into a more integrated vision. It also decouples the relations between urbanization and emissions of emerging pollutants that are framed within a broad socio-ecological context considering institutions, policies, and governance. All the theory, methods, and case studies have been taken from the authors’ publications, which have undergone rigorous international peer review. The book presents the spatial distribution, pathways, and flow diagrams of the pollutants as well as the interactions between urbanization and regional pollution and includes detailed figures and pictures. It also investigates ecological risk characterization and expression using maps based on geographic information systems to illustrate the general profile and the spatial variation of risks.

The book is a valuable resource for postgraduates, researchers, academics, environmental NGOs, and regional managers such as urban planners, environmental agency staff, legal regulators, and decision makers. Bridging the gap between environmental science and policy, it offers interdisciplinary theory, approaches, and case studies that facilitate applications of frontier science in ecology and environmental science to regional social and economic development.

Dr. Yonglong Lu is Chair Professor of Xiamen University, and Dean of the College of the Environment and Ecology. Distinguished Professor of environmental ecology at Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); he is also Affiliated Professor of Renmin University of China, and Auburn University, USA.

Dr. Lu is Fellow of TWAS (The World Academy of Sciences), a foreign member of Academia Europaea and the Russian Academy of Sciences. A member of 10 Member-Group of UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) appointed by UN Secretary General; past President of Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE); President of Pacific Science Association (PSA); Member of International Resource Panel, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP/IRP); Science Advisor of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); Former Member of Committee on Scientific Planning andReview, International Council for Sciences (ICSU/CSPR); Vice President of Ecological Society of China; Chair of Committee on Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Chinese Society for Sustainable Development. He also served as Science Advisor to UNESCO Biotechnology Research Center, National Research Institute of Humanity and Nature (RIHN) of Japan, and Jury Member for the category of Ecology and Conservation Biology, BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards.

As Active Environmental Ecologist, he has published more than 360 papers in peer-reviewed journals including Nature, Science, Science Advances, PNAS, Nature Communications, Nature Sustainability. He has authored or co-authored 17 books. He is Founding Editor-in-Chief of Ecosystem Health and Sustainability - a Science partner journal, Associate Editor of Science Advances, Founder and Associate Editor of Environmental Development: Trans-disciplinary Journal of SCOPE, Associate Editor of Acta Ecologica Sinica, Advisory Board Member of the Journal of Sustainability Research, and Editorial Board Member of some other peer-reviewed journals.

He has obtained various awards and honors from the State Council of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and other national or international organizations, including the 2nd Prize of National Award for Advancement of Science and Technology, 1st Prize in Science for Promoting Social Development by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Outstanding Young and Middle-aged Scientist, Green Design International Contribution Award, SCOPE Distinguished Achievement Award, and Science Chinese Outstanding Contribution Award.

Dr. Pei Wang is an Associate Professor at the College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, China, since October 2020. Before that, he worked at Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has been working on the source and fate of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) for years, especially on PFAS. His primary interest is to uncover the dominant emission sources with high concentrations of the pollutants, trace the relationship with industry, production, and policy upward, and investigate the environmental distribution, bioaccumulation, and ecological and human health risks downward.

Dr. Jingjing Yuan is a Senior Engineer at the College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, China, since November 2020. Before that, she worked at Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr. Yuan is the Managing Editor of Ecosystem Health and Sustainability. Her main research focus is on the sustainability ecology, ecological effects, and environmental management of regional development.