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Effects of the Chernobyl disaster: Difference between revisions

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m →‎Effect on the natural world: rm {{pov-statement}}: some POV statements in the article, but nothing POV about acknowledging that plants, animals, and humans react to radiation differently
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[[Barn Swallow|Barn swallows]] sampled between 1991 and 2006 both in the Chernobyl exclusion zone had more physical abnormalities than control sparrows sampled elsewhere in Europe. Abnormal barn swallows mated with lower frequency, causing the percentage of abnormal swallows to decrease over time. This demonstrated the [[selective pressure]] against the abnormalities was faster than the effects of radiation that created the abnormalities.<ref>[http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/content/q56105043h53220x/?p=67066521613847b38cc9fc7df2745404&pi=0 "Elevated frequency of abnormalities in barn swallows from Chernobyl"], in ''Biology Letters'', Volume 3, Number 4 / August 22, 2007</ref> "This was a big surprise to us," Dr. Mousseau said. "We had no idea of the impact."<ref name=fountain>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/science/28obradi.html "Did Chernobyl Leave an Eden for Wildlife?"], by Henry Fountain, ''[[New York Times]]'', August 28, 2007</ref>
 
It is unknown whether fallout contamination will have any long-term adverse effect on the flora and fauna of the region, as plants and animals have significantly different and varying radiologic tolerance compared with humans. {{POV-statement|date=April 2011}} Some birds are reported with stunted tail feathers (which interferes with breeding). There are reports of mutations in plants in the area.<ref>{{Cite news | title=Wildlife defies Chernobyl radiation | publisher=BBC News |date=2006-04-20 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4923342.stm}}</ref> The Chernobyl area has not received very much biological study, although studies that have been done suggest that apparently healthy populations may be [[Source-sink dynamics|sink instead of source]] populations; in other words, that the apparently healthy populations are not contributing to the survival of species.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Moller | first = Anders Pape | coauthors = Timothy a. Mousseau | title = Biological consequences of Chernobyl: 20 years on | journal = TREE | volume = 21 | issue = 4 | pages = 200–207 | month = April | year = 2006 | doi = 10.1016/j.tree.2006.01.008 | pmid = 16701086 }}</ref>
 
Using robots, researchers have actually retrieved samples of highly melanized black fungus from the walls of the reactor core itself. It has been shown that certain species of fungus, such as ''[[Cryptococcus neoformans]]'' and ''[[Cladosporium]]'', can actually thrive in a radioactive environment, growing better than non-melanized variants, implying that they use [[melanin]] to harness the energy of ionizing radiation from the reactor.<ref>http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20070422222547data_trunc_sys.shtml</ref><ref>http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0000457</ref><ref>http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11785260</ref>
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