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Biological Indicators of Ionizing Radiation in Nature

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Environmental Indicators

Abstract

Ionizing radiation that consists of α, β and γ rays can directly damage DNA and other molecules and as such result in somatic or germline mutations. The consequences of ionizing radiation for living beings cannot be measured with a Geiger counter because it will depend on external dose, internal dose, and the extent of DNA repair. In addition it will depend on the environmental conditions under which living organisms exist. We list environmental indicators of ionizing condition that reveal immediate and long-term consequences ranging from changes in DNA, over damaged cells and organs to altered gene function and development, reduced fecundity and survival, and hence to negative population trends, and altered communities and ecosystems and perturbed ecosystem functioning. We test for consistency in biological indicator ability across spatial and temporal scales relying on long-term field data collected at Chernobyl and Fukushima, and we test for consistency in indicator ability among indicators. Finally, we address the direct and indirect effects of ionizing radiation and we discuss the species or taxa most susceptible to the effects of radiation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d’Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, CNRS UMR 8079, Université Paris-Sud, Bâtiment 362, 91405, Orsay Cedex, France

    Anders Pape Møller

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Timothy Alexander Mousseau

Authors
  1. Anders Pape Møller
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  2. Timothy Alexander Mousseau
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Correspondence to Anders Pape Møller .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Civil and Environmental Engineering, Israel Institute of Technology Technion, Haifa, Israel

    Robert H. Armon

  2. Department of Physiology, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

    Osmo Hänninen

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Møller, A.P., Mousseau, T.A. (2015). Biological Indicators of Ionizing Radiation in Nature. In: Armon, R., Hänninen, O. (eds) Environmental Indicators. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9499-2_49

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