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Long-term trends and variation in 137Cs activity concentrations in brown trout (Salmo trutta) from Øvre Heimdalsvatn, a Norwegian subalpine lake

  • SUBALPINE LAKES
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Abstract

The Norwegian mountain lake, Øvre Heimdalsvatn, received major fallout from the Chernobyl accident in the spring of 1986. Activity concentrations of 137Cs have been monitored annually in the brown trout (Salmo trutta) population of the lake over a 22-year period since 1986. The activity concentrations of 137Cs in brown trout have declined over the period, although in recent years there has been little or no reduction in activity concentrations. Throughout the period, there has been considerable individual variation in 137Cs activity concentrations. Within a single year, fish weight was the most significant factor affecting activity concentrations of 137Cs in individual fish, although sex and age·weight were significant explanatory variables. The “size effect” was not significant during the initial period after fallout and in some recent years. During the first years after fallout, the ecological half-life of 137Cs in brown trout was 3–4 years, but during the last decade this has increased significantly and has approached the physical half-life of 30 years for 137Cs, suggesting a dynamic equilibrium between catchments inputs, possible remobilisation from lake sediments and lake outputs of 137Cs.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Elena Larsen and Elin Agathe Hult, University of Oslo, for undertaking the radiocaesium analyses and the Norwegian Research Council and the Norwegian Radiation Protection Agency for financial support. We are also grateful for the use of data collected for the graduate theses of Rolf Forsmo and Liv Marit Engene. Reidar Borgstrøm and John Gunnar Dokk, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, kindly contributed to the fishing effort, the length-weight measurements and the age determinations of the brown trout. Two referees provided valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1172, 0318, Blindern, Oslo, Norway

    John E. Brittain

  2. Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 1432, Ås, Norway

    John E. Brittain & Jan Egil Gjerseth

  3. Glassbergerveien 169, 4032, Stavanger, Norway

    Jan Egil Gjerseth

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  1. John E. Brittain
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  2. Jan Egil Gjerseth
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Correspondence to John E. Brittain.

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Guest editors: J. E. Brittain & R. Borgstrøm / The subalpine lake ecosystem, Øvre Heimdalsvatn, and its catchment: local and global changes over the last 50 years

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Brittain, J.E., Gjerseth, J.E. Long-term trends and variation in 137Cs activity concentrations in brown trout (Salmo trutta) from Øvre Heimdalsvatn, a Norwegian subalpine lake. Hydrobiologia 642, 107–113 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0155-5

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