Natural forest regeneration in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone: predictive mapping and model diagnostics

Matsala, Maksym; Bilous, Andrii; Myroniuk, Viktor; Diachuk, Petro; Burianchuk, Maksym; Zadorozhniuk, Roman

doi:10.1080/02827581.2021.1890816

Cited by 8 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 46 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Local forests are unmanaged, with only few trees being cut to build infrastructure for the Chernobyl NPP (e.g., Yoschenko et al, 2017) or to establish fire breaks. Abandonment of farmlands within the ChEZ contributed substantially to the increase in forest area in the region: forest cover has increased by almost 150% since the disaster in 1986, reaching approximately 60% in the late 2010s (Matsala et al, 2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of radioactive contamination on tree regeneration and forest development in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Matsala

Senf

Bilous

et al. 2022

Applied Vegetation Science

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Questions Nuclear power is under increasing consideration in many countries because it is a low‐carbon strategy to satisfy growing energy demands. Yet, the long‐term environmental impacts of nuclear accidents remain unclear. Here we asked how ionizing radiation affects tree regeneration and forest development after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. We hypothesized that high levels of 137Cs contamination in the soil: (a) inhibit tree establishment; (b) accelerate structural development (i.e., facilitation of an early differentiation of tree sizes); while (c) prolonging the dominance of early‐seral deciduous communities (because of an elevated susceptibility of conifers to ionizing radiation). Location Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine. Methods We sampled 103 plots on former agricultural lands in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone that were abandoned after the accident in 1986. Results Contamination had no significant effect on the stem density of forests established on former agricultural lands (p = 0.769). Structural development was not accelerated by radioactive contamination (p > 0.191), but we did find weak indications that the presence of tree regeneration was reduced by high radiation levels (p = 0.054). Tree species composition did not vary significantly with contamination (p = 0.250). Individual Scots pine trees did, however, experience a considerably higher proportion of deformed stems when contamination levels were high (p = 0.009). Conclusions Our analyses confirm negative effects of radioactive contamination on the individual tree health of Scots pine, yet early stand development in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was largely insensitive to different levels of radiation. As wildfires threaten to remobilize and redistribute radionuclides stored in the growing forests of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, our findings have potential implications for human health. We conclude that forest dynamics is a key element for assessing the long‐term risk at nuclear accident sites and requires intensified research and monitoring.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%