New Book Release
28. January 2021
TAURUS-Member Dr. Yuanchun Yu from the College of Biology and the Environment of Nanjing Forestry University, China releases his new book: “Properties and Evaluation of Urban Forest Soil Quality” published by Science Press of China. It is supported by European Commission Erasmus+ project “Training Capacities in Agriculture and Urban-rural Interactions for Sustainable Development of Megacities” and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Urbanization has become an inevitable trend of social and economic development. According to statistics from the United Nations，about 60% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2030. China is the country with the fastest development of urbanization in recent years. China’s urbanization rate was 19.39% in 1980 and 60.60% in 2019，breaking the 60% mark for the first time. In the 40 years of reform and opening up，China’s urbanization level has tripled. By 2050 China’s urbanization rate will increase to more than 70%. Urbanization has brought great progress to society，but at the same time it has also brought some environmental problems such as land use
change，dust and harmful substance pollution. Human beings who came out of the forest finally realized that“urban must coexist with nature”，under the punishment of nature. “Introducing forests into cities，and cities built in forests” have become urgent needs of people. Since the mid-1960s，some developed countries have shifted their forestry research focus to cities and gradually formed an important branch of modern forestry-urban forestry. Urban forestry soil，which is closely related to urban forestry，has attracted the attention of soil scientists at home and abroad since the 1980s. Although urban forestry soil is only scattered in urban areas，it has an important role in urban ecosystems.
Urban forestry soil is an important component of the urban ecosystem，and it has an important impact on the urban ecological environment and human health. It is a medium and nutrient supplier for the growth of green plants that beautify and purify the urban environment，it can filter，oxidize，adsorb and fix harmful substances. It is related to the sustainable development of urban forestry，the quality of living environment and human health. Due to its special soil forming environment，the profile morphology，physical and chemical properties，soil composition，nutrient cycling process，and soil biological properties of urban forestry soil are significantly different
from forest soils. The Yangtze River Delta is one of the fastest urbanization region in China.
Nanjing，a historical and cultural city，is a typical city in the region，and its urbanization has developed rapidly in recent years. In September 2019，the total area was 6 622.45 km2，there were 8.50 million people in 2019，with an urbanization rate of 83.2%. Taking Nanjing，Xuzhou and other typical cities as examples，the physical，chemical and biological properties of urban forestry soil were investigated and analyzed systematically，the content，distribution，and influencing factors of heavy metals，polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons，and other pollutants in urban forestry soils were analyzed. The composition and content of organic carbon pools in urban forestry soil were elaborated，and the quality of urban forestry soil was evaluated. The book consists of ten chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the general situation of urban forestry and urban forestry soil；Chapter 2 introduces the general situation and research methods of the research area；Chapter 3, Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 introduce the physical，chemical and biological properties of urban forestry soil respectively；Chapter 6 evaluates the quality of urban forestry soils；Chapter 7 and Chapter 8 introduce the contents and distribution of organic carbon and black carbon in urban forestry soils respectively；Chapter 9 introduces the content and distribution of soil heavy metals in urban forestry；Chapter 10 introduces the content and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban forestry soils.
