カテゴリー「ecology・environment」
- Title: Reduced abundance of insects and spiders linked to radiation at Chernobyl 20 years after the accident
Author: Moller, A. P. / Mousseau, T. A.
Reference: Biology Letters, 5 (3), p.356-359, Jun 2009
doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2008.0778
Keywords: dragonflies, ecosystem, grasshoppers, pollinators, spiders
Abstract: Effects of low-level radiation on abundance of animals are poorly known. We conducted standardized point counts and line transects of bumble-bees, butterflies, grasshoppers, dragonflies and spider webs at forest sites around Chernobyl differing in background radiation by over four orders of magnitude. Abundance of invertebrates decreased with increasing radiation, even after controlling for factors such as soil type, habitat and height of vegetation. These effects were stronger when comparing plots differing in radiation within rather than among sites, implying that the ecological effects of radiation from Chernobyl on animals are greater than previously assumed.
URL: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/5/3/356
Title: Chapter III. Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe for the Environment
Author: Yablokov, Alexey V. / Nesterenko, Vassily B. / Nesterenko, Alexey V.
Reference: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1181 (1), p.221-286, Nov 2009
doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04830.x
Keywords: Chernobyl; radionuclides; radiolysis; soil; water ecosystems; bioaccumulation; transition ratio; radiomorphosis
Abstract:
URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04830.x/abstract
- Title: Chernobyl Birds Have Smaller Brains.
Author: Møller AP, Bonisoli-Alquati A, Rudolfsen G, Mousseau TA
Reference: PLoS ONE 6(2), February 4, 2011
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016862
Keywords:
Abstract: Animals living in areas contaminated by radioactive material from Chernobyl suffer from increased oxidative stress and low levels of antioxidants. Therefore, normal development of the nervous system is jeopardized as reflected by high frequencies of developmental errors, reduced brain size and impaired cognitive abilities in humans. Alternatively, associations between psychological effects and radiation have been attributed to post-traumatic stress in humans.
URL: http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0016862
- Title: Doses to members of the general public and observed effects on biota: Chernobyl Forum update.
Author: Anspaugh, Lynn R
Reference: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 96 (1-3), p.13-19, Jul 2007
doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2006.12.001
Keywords: Chernobyl; Radiation; Collective effective dose; Thyroid dose; Effects; Biota; Humans; Accident
Abstract: The Chernobyl Forum was organized by the United Nations to examine the health and environmental effects of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station. This paper is concerned with the environmental effects, as determined by Expert Group Environment. The accident resulted in release of a large amount of radioactive materials over a period of 10 days. These materials were deposited throughout Europe with the three more affected countries being Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X06002104
- Title: Chernobyl radionuclide distribution, migration, and environmental and agricultural impacts.
Author: Alexakhin, R M / Sanzharova, N I / Fesenko, S V / Spiridonov, S I / Panov, A V
Reference: Health physics, 93 (5), p.418-426, Nov 2007
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0005
Keywords:
Abstract: The distribution and migration of radionuclides released into the environment following the Chernobyl accident in 1986 are described. The Chernobyl disaster resulted in the consumption of farm products containing radionuclides as a source of irradiation of the population due to the prevalence of a rural type of human nutrition in the affected region. This analysis demonstrates that if radiation standards protect humans, then biota are also adequately protected against ionizing radiation.
URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18049218?dopt=Abstract
Title: Birds prefer to breed in sites with low radioactivity in Chernobyl
Author: Moller, A.P / Mousseau, T.A
Reference: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 274 (1616), p.1443-1448, Jun 2007
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0005
Keywords: clutch size, dose rate, hatching success, laying date
Abstract: Low-level radioactive contamination may affect choice of breeding site and life-history decisions if (i) radioactivity directly affects body condition or (ii) it affects resource abundance that then secondarily influences reproductive decisions. We tested the effects of radioactive contamination on nest-site choice and reproduction in a community of hole nesting birds by putting up nest boxes in areas differing in levels of background radiation.
URL: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/274/1616/1443.full
Title: Ecological aspects of the chernobyl nuclear plant disaster
Author: Medvedev, Z A
Reference: Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Volume 1, Issue 1, 23-25, 1 July 1986
doi: 10.1016/0169-5347(86)90063-7
Keywords:
Abstract: The partial meltdown of the 1000MW reactor in Chernobyl and the massive release of radionuclides into the environment is the first large-scale contamination of a geographically significant area by a power-generating civilian nuclear plant. It will have a long term effect on the human population, agriculture and the environment. Previous cases of accidental contamination of the environment on such a scale were connected with the disposal of reprocessed nuclear waste or the release of radioactivity from atmospheric and underground tests of nuclear weapons. One such contamination, which provides important lessons in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster, was linked with the explosion of the nuclear waste storage facility near Kyshtym in the Cheliabinsk region of the Soviet Union in 1958. It resulted in the creation of a special ‘exclusion zone’, resettlement of local populations and special construction projects designed to prevent the distribution of radioactivity over even larger areas.
URL: https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/abstract/0169-5347(86)90063-7
- Title: Wildlife and Chernobyl: The scientific evidence for minimal impacts
Author: Robert J. Baker and Jeffrey K. Wickliffe
Reference: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 14 April 2011
doi:
Keywords:
Abstract: The Fukushima disaster certainly will be followed by studies of the biological effects of the power plant’s radiation releases. Many studies of wildlife living in the contaminated Chernobyl zones show no major statistical effect on population health.Better data gathering and an archive of biological samples should be retained in order to resolve debates and replicate studies on the environmental effects of radiation.
URL:http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/features/wildlife-and-chernobyl-the-scientific-evidence-minimal-impacts
- Title: GIS and Geostatistics: Spatial Analysis of Chernobyl Consequences in Belarus
Author: Konstantin Krivoruchko
Reference: Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, California, Dec 2004
doi:
Keywords:
Abstract: A large amount of data concerning the ecological state of Belarus after the Chernobyl accident was analyzed using geostatistics. This data included soil contamination by long-lived radioisotopes 137Cs, 90Sr, 238-240Pu, and 241Am; dose load estimates on the population during the first days after the Chernobyl accident; 137Cs food contamination and estimation of the internal dose in 1993; and thyroid cancer morbidity among adults and children based on data collected from 1986 to 1995. This paper highlights the advantages of using geostatistical methods for processing environmental data. The following geostatistical approaches are used for mapping: simple, ordinary, indicator, probability, and disjunctive krigings, as well as ordinary and indicator kriging modifications for binomial data. The applicability of the different data processing methods is discussed. The data and the visualization techniques presented in this paper can help reveal powerful patterns for decision making and policy planning.
URL: http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/conf/sa_workshop/papers/krivoruchko_old.html
- Title: Ecosystems effects 25 years after Chernobyl: pollinators, fruit set and recruitment
Author: Møller, Anders Pape / Barnier, Florian / Mousseau, Timothy A.
Reference: Oecologia, 170 (4), p.1155-1165, Dec 2012
doi: 10.1007/s00442-012-2374-0
Keywords: Chernobyl, Ecosystem functioning, Fruits, Plant recruitment, Radiation
Abstract: Animals are assumed to play a key role in ecosystem functioning through their effects on seed set, seed consumption, seed dispersal, and maintenance of plant communities. However, there are no studies investigating the consequences of animal scarcity on seed set, seed consumption and seed dispersal at large geographical scales. We exploited the unprecedented scarcity of pollinating bumblebees and butterflies in the vicinity of Chernobyl, Ukraine, linked to the effects of radiation on pollinator abundance, to test for effects of pollinator abundance on the ecosystem. This study provides the first large-scale study of the effects of a suppressed pollinator community on ecosystem functioning.
URL: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00442-012-2374-0
