18 Scientific American, December 2020FROMCHERNOBYL:A STALKERS’ GUIDE,BY DARMON RICHTER. FUEL PUBLISHING, 2020ADVANCES
ENVIRONMENTChernobyl’s
Legacy
Evidence builds that animals
are scarcer in more heavily
contaminated areasMore than 30 years after the Chernobyl
nuclear plant’s meltdown, an 18-mile radius
around the site remains almost entirely
devoid of human activity—creating a haven
for wildlife. But scientists disagree over
lingering radiation’s effects on animal popula-
tions in this region, called the Exclusion Zone.
A new analysis, based on estimating the
actual doses animals receive in various
parts of the zone, supports the hypothesis
that areas with the most radiation have the
fewest mammals.
“The effects we saw are consistent with
conventional wisdom about radiation,” says
University of South Carolina biologist Timothy
Mousseau, co-author of the new study in
Scientific Reports. “What’s surprising is that ittook this long to start looking at this in a rig-
orous, comprehensive way.”
The paper reanalyzed data collected in- At that time the same researchers used
snow tracks to estimate the abundance of 12
mammal species, from mice to horses to wild
boars, at 161 sites across 300 square miles in
the Exclusion Zone. They found fewer mam-
mals in areas with higher background radia-
tion. Two subsequent studies, however, found
no significant correlation between radiation
levels and mammal abundance. But Mous-
seau and his colleagues say all three studies
analyzed radiation exposure too simplistically.
The previous studies relied solely on mea-
surements of ambient radiation. For their
reanalysis, the researchers used their original
mammal counts—but they estimated the
total radiation doses those animals would
likely receive over their lifetimes, combining
data about each species (including range size,
diet and life span) with radiation levels based
on soil samples and calculations about how
the animals encounter radioactive molecules.
Again, they found that locations calcu-
lated as more radioactive had fewer mam-
mals. Many past studies have linked radia-
A fox pauses in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.18 Scientific American, December 2020FROMCHERNOBYL:A STALKERS’ GUIDE,BY DARMON RICHTER. FUEL PUBLISHING, 2020ADVANCES
ENVIRONMENTChernobyl’s
Legacy
Evidence builds that animals
are scarcer in more heavily
contaminated areasMore than 30 years after the Chernobyl
nuclear plant’s meltdown, an 18-mile radius
around the site remains almost entirely
devoid of human activity—creating a haven
for wildlife. But scientists disagree over
lingering radiation’s effects on animal popula-
tions in this region, called the Exclusion Zone.
A new analysis, based on estimating the
actual doses animals receive in various
parts of the zone, supports the hypothesis
that areas with the most radiation have the
fewest mammals.
“The effects we saw are consistent with
conventional wisdom about radiation,” says
University of South Carolina biologist Timothy
Mousseau, co-author of the new study in
Scientific Reports. “What’s surprising is that ittook this long to start looking at this in a rig-
orous, comprehensive way.”
The paper reanalyzed data collected in- At that time the same researchers used
snow tracks to estimate the abundance of 12
mammal species, from mice to horses to wild
boars, at 161 sites across 300 square miles in
the Exclusion Zone. They found fewer mam-
mals in areas with higher background radia-
tion. Two subsequent studies, however, found
no significant correlation between radiation
levels and mammal abundance. But Mous-
seau and his colleagues say all three studies
analyzed radiation exposure too simplistically.
The previous studies relied solely on mea-
surements of ambient radiation. For their
reanalysis, the researchers used their original
mammal counts—but they estimated the
total radiation doses those animals would
likely receive over their lifetimes, combining
data about each species (including range size,
diet and life span) with radiation levels based
on soil samples and calculations about how
the animals encounter radioactive molecules.
Again, they found that locations calcu-
lated as more radioactive had fewer mam-
mals. Many past studies have linked radia-
A fox pauses in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.sad1220Adva3p.indd 18 10/21/20 5:19 PM
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