Forest type effects on the retention of radiocesium in organic layers of forest ecosystems affected by the Fukushima nuclear accident.

ABSTRACT: The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster caused serious radiocesium (¹³⁷Cs) contamination of forest ecosystems over a wide area. Forest-floor organic layers play a key role in controlling the overall bioavailability of ¹³⁷Cs in forest ecosystems; however, there is still an insufficient understanding of how forest types influence the retention capability of ¹³⁷Cs in organic layers in Japanese forest ecosystems. Here we conducted plot-scale investigations on the retention of ¹³⁷Cs in organic layers at two contrasting forest sites in Fukushima. In a deciduous broad-leaved forest, approximately 80% of the deposited ¹³⁷Cs migrated to mineral soil located below the organic layers within two years after the accident, with an ecologi

SUBMITTER: Koarashi J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5156898 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature