title: Radioactive contamination of nest materials of the Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus due to the Fukushima nuclear accident: The significance in the first year.
abstract: The 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident contaminated large areas of eastern and northeastern Japan, releasing vast amounts of radiation. Here we investigated radioactive contamination of the nest materials of the Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus from the breeding season of 2011 directly after the accident to the next breeding season of 2012 at two sites. In Tokyo (222 km southwest of the plant), ambient dose rates in the nestboxes were lower than those in Ibaraki (175 km southwest of the plant), where the levels of 2011 were higher than those of 2012. Further, the amount of radioactive Cs in each nest increased with the increase in nest weight, with a higher increment at Ibaraki than at Tokyo. These data suggested higher nest contamination levels in the breeding season directly after a nuclear accident than in later seasons, and an increment of nest contamination levels via nest materials of birds.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, Rikkyo University, 3-34-1 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Tokyo, 171-8501, Japan. Electronic address: matsuishin@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsui
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, Rikkyo University, 3-34-1 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Tokyo, 171-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kasahara
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, Rikkyo University, 3-34-1 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Tokyo, 171-8501, Japan; Tokyo-bay Ecosystem Research Center, Department of Life Sciences, Toho University, 2-2-1 Funabashi, Chiba, 274-8501, Japan; Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, 115 Konoyama, Abiko, Chiba, 270-1145, Japan.
authors.forename: Gen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Humanities and Regional Science, Hokkaido University of Education, 5-3-1 Ainosato, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 002-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu K
authors.initials: OK
authors.lastname: Mikami
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan.
authors.forename: Mamoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, Rikkyo University, 3-34-1 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Tokyo, 171-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ueda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D007564:Japan; D009425:Nesting Behavior; D055848:Nuclear Power Plants; D010944:Plants; D000069079:Radiation Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D012621:Seasons; D046370:Sparrows / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014041:Tokyo
chemical_list: D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes
keywords: Ambient dose rate; Bird nest; Cesium concentration; Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant