Introduction
Thirty-four years after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, people are still restricted from resettling the evacuation area, dubbed the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The absence of humans has created an opportunity for nature to thrive.
Script
James Beasley, Assistant Professor, University of Georgia: The large reason why these animals seem to be persisting in high densities or high abundance within the exclusion zone is because of the absence of humans. As you drive around the exclusion zone you’re overcome by all the lush nature. It’s really an eerie reminder of the tragic human impact that occurred there back around 30-years ago.
The Chernobyl exclusion zone is basically a 30-kilometer radius that was created that extends around the nuclear reactor where the accident occurred and within that 30-kilometer zone. That’s where preventive measures were taken to exclude people. So all the towns, villages, cities within that area, that 30-kilometer area, were evacuated.
Sergei Gaschak, International Radioecology Laboratory: Thirty-years after the accident, these woodlands increased up to one-half or more times so now approximately 70% of the area is forest.
Maryna Shkvyria, Researcher, Shmalgauzen Institute of Zoology: If you talk about large mammals like carnivores and ungulates it’s really good habitat because it’s wild territory now and especially these very wild spots are around the border with Belarus. And (there are) also many different water sources like lakes and rivers and springs.
Beasley: So the work that we’ve been involved with in the Chernobyl exclusion zone has been to look at the distribution and relative abundance of wildlife, particularly large mammals and especially carnivores, specifically looking at radiation contamination. So as you move from areas of low to high contamination do you see a subsequent drop-off in the number of species that you detect – the relative abundance of those animals? Species we most commonly documented were raccoon dogs, large numbers of photographs of grey wolves, red fox, eurasian boar, eurasian badger.
When we have human dominated landscapes we have lower densities of animals especially animals that come into conflict with humans like wolves and so after people were removed, even though the landscape was highly contaminated, it allowed them to increase.
What this research is not looking at is the individual health of those animals. So it doesn’t suggest that these animals are incredibly healthy although on the surface they appear very healthy. It doesn’t imply that there aren’t more subtle genetic effects and that’s an important area that I think we need to continue to explore with future research down the road.
Quiz
1. As you drive around the exclusion zone you're ________ by all the lush nature.
Discussion
- What do you know about the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant explosion in 1986?
- Is nuclear power an important source of energy in your country? Do you think that it should play a part in the global transition away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy sources?
- What are some of the most prominent forms of renewable energy production today and how large a role do you think they will take in the coming decades?