Tatiana PARAMONOVA, Ekaterina MACHAEVA, Belyaev VLADİMİR

Modern parameters of caesium-137 root uptake in natural and agricultural grass ecosystems of contaminated post-Chernobyl landscape, Russia

The estimation of modern parameters of 137Cs root uptake was conducted in natural meadow and agricultural ecosystems of post-Chernobyl landscapes of Tula region. The agrosystems with main crops of field rotation (barley, potatoes, rape, maize) occupying watersheds and slopes with arable chernozems are contaminated at a level 460-670 Bq/kg (4.7-6.0 Ci/km2); natural meadow ecosystems occupying lower parts of slopes and floodplains are contaminated at a level 620-710 Bq/kg (5.8-7.6 Ci/km2). In the arable soils 137Cs uniformly distributed to a depth of Ap horizon (20-30 cm of thickness), while in meadow soils 70-80% of the radionuclide is concentrated within the top Ad horizon (9-13 cm of thickness). These topsoil layer accords with rhizosphere zone, where >80-90% of plant roots are concentrated, and from which 137Cs is mostly consumed by vegetation. Total amount of 137Cs root uptake depends on the level of soil radioactive contamination (correlation coefficient 0.61). So 137Cs activity in meadow vegetation (103-160 Bq/kg) is generally more than one in agricultural vegetation (9-92 Bq/kg). The values of 137Cs transfer factor in the studied ecosystems vary from 0.01 (rape) to 0.20 (wet meadow), that confirms the discrimination of the radionuclide’s root uptake. The larger are the volume of roots and their absorbing surface, the higher are the values of transfer factor from soil to plant (correlation coefficients 0.71 and 0.64 respectively). 137Cs translocation from roots to shoots is also determined by biological features of plants. At the same level of soil contamination above-ground parts of meadow herbs accumulate more 137Cs than Gramineae species, and in agrosystems above-ground parts of weeds concentrate more 137Cs than cultivated cereals. Thus, the level of soil radioactive pollution and biological features of plants are determinants in the process of 137Cs root uptake and translocation and should be considered in land use policy.

Keywords:

radioactive contamination, caesium-137 root uptake, transfer factor, Chernobyl accident,

PDF

___

Aktar, M., Ullah, S.M., Begum, A., Mollah, S., Mamun, Sh., 2009. Effect of 137Cs on the transfer of nutrient elements and on growth of lettuce (Lactuca sativa). Journal of Innovation and Development Strategy 3(3): 18-30.
Alexakhin, R.M., Korneev, N.A., 1991. Agricultural Radioecology. Ecology, Moscow (in Russian).
Anonymous, 2006. Environmental Consequences of the Chernobyl Accident and their Remediation: Twenty Years of Experience, 2006. Report of the UN Chernobyl Forum Expert Group "Environment". Radiological Assessment Reports Series 8. Vienna.
Anonymous, 2009. Norms of radiation safety (NRS 99/2009), 2009. Moscow (in Russian).
Belyaev, V.R., Golosov, V.N., Markelov, M.V., Evrard, O., Ivanova, N.N., Paramonova, T.A., Shamshurina, E.N., 2013. Assessment of the recent sediment deposition rates on the Plava River floodplain (Central European Russia) using the 137Cs radionuclide tracer. Hydrological Processes 27 (6): 807-821.
Brambilla, M., Fortunati, P., Carini, F., 2002. Foliar and root uptake of 134Cs, 85Sr and 65Zn in prosessing tomato plants (Lycorersicon esculentum Mill.). Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 60: 351-363.
Ehlken, S., Kirchner, G., 2002. Environmental processes affecting plant root uptake of radioactive trace elements and variability of transfer factor data: a review. J. Environ. Radioact. 58, 97-112.
Fesenko, S., Alexakhin, R.M., Balonov, M.I., Bogdevitch, I.M., Howard, B.J., Kashparov, V.A., Sanzharova, N.I., Panov, A.V., Voigt, G., Zhuchenka, Y.M., 2007. An extended critical review of twenty years of countermeasures used in agriculture after the Chernobyl accident. Science of the Total Environment 383(1–3): 1-24.
Frissel, M.J., Debb, D.L., Fathonyc, M., Lin, Y.M., Mollah, A.S., Ngo, N.T., Othman, I., Robison, W.L., Skarlow-Alekxion, V., Topcuoglu, S., Twining, J.R., Uchida, S., Wasserman, M.A., 2002. Generic values for soil-to-plant transfer factors of radiocesium. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 58: 113-128.
Fujiwara, T., 2013. Cesium Uptake in Rice: Possible Transporter, Distribution and Variation. In: Nakanishi T. M., Tanoi K. (Eds.), Agricultural Implications of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident. Tokyo, Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht, London. 29-36.
Golosov, V. N., Panin, A. V., Markelov, M.V., 1999. Chernobyl 137Cs redistribution in the small basin of the Lokna River, Central Russia. Physics & Chemistry of the Earth (A) 24 (10): 881-885.
Greger, M., 2004. Uptake of nuclides by plants. Stockholm University, Sweden, Technical Report TR-04-14. Available at. http://www.skb.se/upload/publications/pdf/TR-04-14.pdf ).
Hampton, C.R., Broadley, M.R., White, P.J., 2005. Short review: The mechanisms of radiocaesium uptake by Arabidopsis roots. Nukleonika 50: 3–8.
Izrael Yu. A. (ed.), 1998. Atlas of radionuclide contamination of European parts of Russia, Belorussia and the Ukraine. IGKE Rosgidromet, Roskartographiya, Moscow (in Russian).
Ladeyn, I., Plassard, C., Staunton, S., 2008. Mycorrhizal association of maritime pine, Pinus pinaster, with Rhizopogon roseolus has contrasting effects on the uptake from soil and root-to-shoot transfer of 137Cs, 85Sr and 95mTc. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 99: 853-863.
Rodin, L.E., Bazilevich, N.I., 1965. Production and Mineral Cycling In Terrestrial Vegetation. Nauka, Moscow-Leningrad (in Russian).
Show, G., Bell, J.N.B., 1989. The Kinetics of Caesium Absorbtion by Roots of Winter Wheat and the Possible Consequences for the Derivation of soil-to-Plant transfer Factors for Radiocaesium. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 10: 213-231.
Smolders, E., Tsukada, H., 2011. The Transfer of Radiocesium from Soil to Plants: Mechanisms, Data, and Perspectives for Potential Countermeasures in Japan. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 7 (3): 379–381.
Staunton, S., Hinsinger, P., Guivarch, A., Brechignac, F., 2003. Root uptake and translocation of radiocaesium from agricultural soils by various plant species. Plant and Soil 254: 443-455.
Takeda, A., Tsukada, H., Takaku, Yu.,Akata, N., Hisamatsu, Sh., 2008. Plant induced changes in concentrations of caesium, strontium and uranium in soil solution with reference to major ions and dissolved organic matter. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 99: 900-911.
Tamponnet, C., Martin-Garin, A., Gonze ,M.A., Parekh, N., Vallejo, R., Sauras-Year, T., Casadesus, J., Plassard, S., Staunton, S., Norden, M., Avila, R., Shaw, G., 2008. An overwie of BORIS: Bioavailability of Radionuclides in Soils. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 99: 820-830.
Waegeneers, N., Smolders, E., Merckx, R., 2005. Modelling 137Cs uptake in plants from undisturbed soil monoliths. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 81: 187-199.
Walling, D.E., Quine, T.A., 1990. Calibration of caesium-137 measurements to provide quantitative erosion rate data. Land Degradation and Rehabilitation 2: 161-175.
Yablokov, A.V., Nesterenko, V.B., Nesterenko, A.V., 2007. Chernobyl: the consequences of the accident for human and environment. S.-Petersburg (in Russian).