BookChisato Takenaka, Naoki Hijii, Nobuhiro Kaneko, Tatsuhiro Ohkubo, editors.
Summary: Investigates radiocesium movement in all major components of forest ecosystems, e.g. the plants, animals, insects, microorganisms, and soils, during the initial stage of contamination after the incident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Most of the work was conducted at a common research site. More specifically, the book examines the contribution of surface uptake by trees in the dynamics of radiocesium during the initial contamination stage; the movement of radiocesium in the form of small organic fragments that are essential to the radiocesium dynamics in forest ecosystems; and the upward movement of radiocesium due to microorganism activity, which promotes the effective decontamination of the forest floor. Lastly, it explains why spiders could be a valuable indicator of the contamination level in forest ecosystems.
Contents:
Part I: Radiocesium deposition at the accident
Chapter 1: Radioactive contamination in forest by the accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
Comparison with Chernobyl-
Chapter 2: Radiocesium deposition at the accident and the succeeding movement through hydrological process in forest ecosystem in Fukushima
Part II: Mechanisms of radiocesium translocation in plants
Chapter 3: Uptake of radiocesium by plants
Chapter 4: Surface absorption of 137Cs through tree bark
Chapter 5: Translocation of 137Cs in the woody parts of Sugi (Cryptomeria japonica)
Chapter 6: Radiocesium translocations in bamboos
Chapter 7: Movement of cesium in model plants
Part III: Radiocesium movement through ecological processes in forest ecosystem
Chapter 8: Movement of radiocesium as litterfall in deciduous forests
Chapter 9: Changes in chemical forms of radiocesium in the forest floor organic matter with decomposition, and uptake of radiocesium derived from the organic matter by crops
Chapter 10: Contamination and transfer of radio-Cs in soil ecosystem
Chapter 11: Spiders as an indicator of 137Cs dynamics in the food chains in forests
Chapter 12: Radioactive cesium contamination of sika deer in Oku-Nikko region of Tochigi Prefecture in Central Japan
Part IV: Radiocesium dynamics and its perspective in forests
Chapter 13: Modeling radiocesium dynamics in a contaminated forest in Japan
Chapter 14: Future perspective.