title: Radiocesium contamination of the web spider Nephila clavata (Nephilidae: Arachnida) 1.5 years after the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.
abstract: We measured the concentrations of radiocesium ((134)Cs and (137)Cs) in a large web spider, Nephila clavata L. Koch (Nephilidae: Arachnida), collected at three sites at different distances from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant about 1.5 y after the accident in March 2011. The radiocesium concentrations in spiders were highest in a streamside secondary forest 33 km northwest of the power plant: mean ± a standard deviation of 2.401 ± 1.197 Bq g(-1) dry for (134)Cs and 3.955 ± 1.756 Bq g(-1) dry for (137)Cs. In a hillside secondary forest 37 km northwest of the power plant, the mean concentrations of (134)Cs and (137)Cs were 0.825 ± 0.247 Bq g(-1) dry and 1.470 ± 0.454 Bq g(-1) dry, respectively. In a pine forest 62 km west of the power plant, very low radiocesium concentrations were detected, but in only a few individuals. The concentrations of (134)Cs and (137)Cs in spiders collected at each site tended to be correlated with the air radiation dose rate at each site. Since spiders are key components of food webs in forests, the high concentrations in this species at contaminated sites suggested that the radiocesium from the accident has transferred through food chains and reached to higher trophic level of the food chains.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan. Electronic address: ayabe@agr.nagoya-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yoshiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ayabe
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanasashi
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hijii
authors.forename: Chisato
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Takenaka
mesh_terms: D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D004032:Diet; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D013112:Spiders / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D014197:Trees
chemical_list: D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes
keywords: Nephila clavata; Nuclear power plant accident; Radioactive contamination; Radiocesium; Spider