Complex estimation of the effect of long-term radioactive contamination on soil mezofauna after Chernobyl accident

Institute of Zoology, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Akademicheskaya 27, 220072 Minsk, Belarus

Abstract

We have carried out the pedobiological investigation in the forest (broad-leaved and pine) biogeocenoses of the zone of radioactive contamination, Belarus. Considerable differences were found in the number of species between biogeocenoses with different levels of contamination. Higher radionuclide content was found to result in suppression of soil mezofauna, which manifested by a decrease in density and zoomass. We have established the sings of pathological condition of invertebrate hemolymph subject to radioactive contamination. All the facts indicate that soil mezofauna in biogeocenoses exposed to radiation for a long time impact clearly noticeable suppression.