Dynamics of Radionuclide Redistribution and Pathways in Forest Environments: Long-Term Field Research in Different Landscapes

Radiocaesium partitioning in Japanese cedar forests following the “early” phase of Fukushima fallout redistribution

“…the contributions varied from 6–11% of the total amount of 137 Cs deposit, highlighting the importance of the dead material present in the crowns, at least during the early post-accident phase. Similar ranges of values for the same time period after 137 Cs release were also published for forests contaminated by the Chernobyl accident (6–8%), but without distinguishing evergreen and deciduous species4849.…”

“…This result is consistent with a higher 137 Cs initial deposit on the MC forest floor22 and a thinner organic layer for the MC plot (1.5 vs. 2.5 kg dry m −2 , Table 2). The difference in organic layer thickness between the two plots generates a lower 137 Cs residence time in the MC plot, either resulting from organic material degradation or leaching, as has already been mentioned48. In addition, the higher initial 137 Cs interception for YC generated a delayed downward transfer of 137 Cs from the crown to the forest floor, and also from the organic layer to soil 0–3 cm.…”

Radiocaesium accumulation in stemwood: Integrated approach at the scale of forest stands for contaminated Scots pine in Belarus

“…The very low 137 Cs concentration below 5 cm in the mineral soil layers of all stands confirms the low 137 Cs vertical migration usually observed in contaminated forest soils (Bunzl et al, 1995;Mamikhin, 1995). In stands I-III, the 137 Cs peak observed in the OA layer is a common feature of dry forest soils Shcheglov, 1999;Fesenko et al, 2001). The peak value decreases rapidly with the thickness of the O layer, as a function of tree age.…”

“…Accordingly, the WIP may be considered as reflecting the current 137 Cs net accumulation rate in stemwood. Considering besides that twenty years after the Chernobyl accident, the surface layers of forest soils constitute the major source of 137 Cs for the trees Shcheglov, 1999;Plamboeck et al, 2000), the WIP likely provides a good picture of 137 Cs root uptake. Clear empirical evidence of the relationship between 137 Cs availability in soil for root uptake and 137 Cs accumulation in stemwood, calculated using the WIP approach, is however still missing.…”

Long-term stability of decontamination effect in recreational areas near the town Novozybkov, Bryansk Region, Russia

“…Due to the strong radiocaesium fixation, Kvasnikova (2002) found only insignificant small-scale redistributions of the contamination within a river-forested landscape in the western part of Bryansk Region over a period of 15 years after the Chernobyl fallout. For forests, such slow migration is probably due to the presence of litter, where the main part of the contamination is currently accumulated (Shcheglov, 1999). In the deeper soil horizons, this radionuclide is also strongly fixed by mineral soil components (Klyashtorin, 1999).…”