期刊
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
卷 255, 期 -, 页码 -出版社
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109010
关键词
Sewage; Pollution; Sanitation; Water quality; Wastewater; Biodiversity
资金
- Ann Ray Foundation
- Science for Nature and People Partnership
The global sanitation crisis not only threatens humans but also impacts the health of ecosystems. Untreated and poorly treated sewage raise concentrations of pollutants in natural ecosystems, requiring attention and collaborative efforts to address this issue effectively.
It is well established that a global sanitation crisis threatens humans. By comparison, much less attention has been given to address the effects of this crisis on the health of ecosystems. We provide examples of how sewage can affect natural ecosystems and where hotspots in sewage contamination commonly overlap with these habitats. We highlight these issues for some of the major ecosystems spanning across terrestrial, aquatic, and coastal realms. Recent studies reveal that untreated and poorly treated sewage elevates concentrations of nutrients, pathogens, endocrine disruptors, heavy metals, and pharmaceuticals in natural ecosystems. We show many large areas (10,000's of km(2)) across the globe with high levels of sewage contamination and that these contamination hotspots overlap extensively in occurrence with coral reefs, salt marshes, and fish-rich river systems. Given the global extent of sewage pollution in and near natural habitats, conservation biologists and managers must address this threat. However, because of its size, conservationists cannot solve this problem alone. We therefore argue that conservation must combine forces with the human health sector to create cross-disciplinary synergisms in innovation and efficiency. New sewage management solutions are emerging, such as waste-free toilets and resource recovery to generate fuel and drinking water; but more innovation is needed - a demand that will most effectively be reached through cross-sector collaboration.
作者
我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。
推荐
暂无数据