Archives → 2022 → Vol. 62, № 3 → pp. 308–314
Article
Morphometric Indicators of Pine Needles 35 Years after the Chernobyl Accident
Makarenko E.S., Lychenkova M.A., Geras'kin S.A., Perevolotsky A.N., Perevolotskaya Т.V.
Russian Institute of Radiology and Agroecology, Obninsk, Russia
Abstract
35 years after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, morphometric indicators of the needles of Scots pine growing on the territory of the Polesye State Radiation-Ecological Reserve in the Gomel’ region of Belarus were evaluated. In 2021, the variability of needles in length and weight, the indices of fluctuating asymmetry, the frequency and degree of damage to needles by necrosis at three impact and two control plots were studied. The power of the equivalent ambient dose of gamma radiation was from 0.25 to 9.85 mSv/h at a height of 1 m at the impact plots. The length and weight of needles, the indices of fluctuating asymmetry in the studied populations had significant differences from the control values, but were not of a systemic nature. The frequency of needles heavily damaged by necrosis in the most radioactively contaminated sites is significantly higher, than both controls. Thus, even 35 years after the accident, some morphological changes can be detected in the po-pulations of Scots pine, one of the most radiosensitive plant species, which, however, are already few.
Keywords
Scots pine, Chernobyl accident, chronic irradiation, needles, necrosis, fluctuating asymmetry
Current Issue
FAQs
Yes, by all means. The original of an illustration is the file of illustration in its original format. Photographs should best be submitted in tiff format with the resolution at least 300 dpi.
No.