A1 Journal article (refereed)
Ecological mechanisms can modify radiation effects in a key forest mammal of Chernobyl (2019)
Mappes, T., Boratynski, Z., Kivisaari, K., Lavrinienko, A., Milinevsky, G., Mousseau, T. A., Møller, A. P., Tukalenko, E., & Watts, P. (2019). Ecological mechanisms can modify radiation effects in a key forest mammal of Chernobyl. Ecosphere, 10(4), Article e02667. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2667
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Mappes, Tapio; Boratynski, Zbigniew; Kivisaari, Kati; Lavrinienko, Anton; Milinevsky, Gennadi; Mousseau, Timothy A.; Møller, Anders P.; Tukalenko, Eugene; Watts, Phillip
Journal or series: Ecosphere
ISSN: 2150-8925
eISSN: 2150-8925
Publication year: 2019
Volume: 10
Issue number: 4
Article number: e02667
Publisher: Ecological Society of America
Publication country: United States
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2667
Publication open access: Openly available
Publication channel open access: Open Access channel
Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/63571
Abstract
Nuclear accidents underpin the need to quantify the ecological mechanisms which determine injury to ecosystems from chronic low‐dose radiation. Here, we tested the hypothesis that ecological mechanisms interact with ionizing radiation to affect natural populations in unexpected ways. We used large‐scale replicated experiments and food manipulations in wild populations of the rodent, Myodes glareolus, inhabiting the region near the site of the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. We show linear decreases in breeding success with increasing ambient radiation levels with no evidence of any threshold below which effects are not seen. Food supplementation of experimental populations resulted in increased abundances but only in locations where radioactive contamination was low (i.e., below ≈ 1 μSv/h). In areas with higher contamination, food supplementation showed no detectable effects. These findings suggest that chronic low‐dose‐rate irradiation can decrease the stability of populations of key forest species, and these effects could potentially scale to broader community changes with concomitant consequences for the ecosystem functioning of forests impacted by nuclear accidents.
Keywords: radiation; ionising radiation; forest ecosystems; nuclear accidents
Free keywords: Chernobyl; chronic radiation; food supplementation; forest ecosystem; ionizing radiation; key species; Myodes vole; nuclear accident; population increase; population sensitivity; reproductive success
Contributing organizations
Related projects
- Ionisoivan säteilyn evolutiiviset vaikut
- Mappes, Tapio
- Research Council of Finland
Ministry reporting: Yes
Reporting Year: 2019
JUFO rating: 1