Track 1-13: Monitoring and Managing Grass and Forage Biomass Resources at the Landscape Level
Spatial Variability and Seasonal Change of Radioactive Caesium Concentration in Grassland Vegetation
Description
The damage from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 resulted in serious radioactive pollution over Eastern Japan. The distribution of radioactive fallout was largely determined by wind and rainfall patterns in March 2011. Distribution patterns were not necessarily in accordance with the distance from the nuclear power plant. In Iwate Prefecture (160 to 340 km north of the nuclear power plant), the amount of fallout of radioactive material in the southern region was greater than in the northern, but the distribution pattern was complex (Fig. 1, Tsuiki and Maeda 2012a; 2012b). In the southern region, the radioactive caesium (Cs) concentrations of herbage plants exceeded the provisional safety standard for dairy and fattening cattle feed, and the livestock industry has been seriously affected in numerous ways e.g. needing to dispose of polluted forage, grazing prohibitions, declines in beef prices, suspension of vending, and blanket testing of beef cattle. In this study, the spatial variability of radioactive Cs concentration in soil and vegetation was evaluated on grasslands in 2012.
Included in
Spatial Variability and Seasonal Change of Radioactive Caesium Concentration in Grassland Vegetation
The damage from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 resulted in serious radioactive pollution over Eastern Japan. The distribution of radioactive fallout was largely determined by wind and rainfall patterns in March 2011. Distribution patterns were not necessarily in accordance with the distance from the nuclear power plant. In Iwate Prefecture (160 to 340 km north of the nuclear power plant), the amount of fallout of radioactive material in the southern region was greater than in the northern, but the distribution pattern was complex (Fig. 1, Tsuiki and Maeda 2012a; 2012b). In the southern region, the radioactive caesium (Cs) concentrations of herbage plants exceeded the provisional safety standard for dairy and fattening cattle feed, and the livestock industry has been seriously affected in numerous ways e.g. needing to dispose of polluted forage, grazing prohibitions, declines in beef prices, suspension of vending, and blanket testing of beef cattle. In this study, the spatial variability of radioactive Cs concentration in soil and vegetation was evaluated on grasslands in 2012.
