Effects of non-human species irradiation after the Chernobyl NPP accident

Development of an approach to assess critical doses and dose rates for cultivated plants

“…For few species, where data are available for both endpoints considered (corn, rice, soya for acute, wheat and barley for chronic exposure), ED 50 and EDR 10 are lower when estimated from reproduction (Table 2 and 3). Thus, reproduction seems to be more radiosensitive criteria than survival, which is in line with our previous findings [9] and other studies [11,12].…”

Regulatory radiation risks for the population and natural objects within the semipalatinsk test site

“…Dose rate to herbaceous plants amounts here to 5.7 mGy/day. According to the reported data [12], at dose rates above 4.2-6.3 mGy/day, herbaceous plants can develop morphological alterations. However, small sizes of the plot (several tens meters) make it, probably, impossible to conclude on significant abnormalities of the plant population within large areas involved in the risk assessment.…”

Using an Ecosystem Approach to complement protection schemes based on organism-level endpoints

“…In particular, studies where both ecosystem and lower level (such as at the population, individual or cellular level) effects are measured are scarce. The few examples of such studies are mostly from high dose field experiments (e.g., Krivolutskiy et al, 1988;Tikhomirov, 1972;Woodwell, 1967) and from the South Urals (Krivolutskiy et al, 1988;Tikhomirov, 1972) and Chernobyl accidents (Geras'kin et al, 2008). This lack of data limits our ability to compare effects across organizational levels and identify ecosystem-specific effects.…”

“…In extreme cases, irreversible changes in ecosystem structure and function, termed "regime shifts," can occur (Holling, 1973;Scheffer et al, 2001, and see Section 4). These phenomena are particularly relevant when considering the potential long-term ecological effects of chronic exposure to radiation, as such impacts may not be manifested as the result of direct radio-toxicological effects on individual organisms, but rather as the consequence of indirect effects resulting from differences in sensitivity of different species, potentially leading to changes in habitat structure or altered trophic relationships (Geras'kin et al, 2008;Woodwell, 1967). For example, in an area of pine-birch forest severely affected by releases of radionuclides following an accident in the Southern Urals, the amount of light energy reaching the earth's surface increased by up to a factor of 5 and the air temperature increased by 1-2 °C.…”

“…The possibility of missing aspects of potential importance not covered by more reductionist approaches would then be prevented. Field studies can occur either as experimental manipulations (e.g., Krivolutskiy et al, 1988;Tikhomirov, 1972;Woodwell, 1967) or as forensic investigations following a release (e.g., Geras'kin et al, 2008). Modelling risks associated with releases projected under a range of scenarios across heterogeneous landscapes will benefit in using an Ecosystem Approach, i.e.…”