title: Radiological dose reconstruction for birds reconciles outcomes of Fukushima with knowledge of dose-effect relationships.
abstract: We reconstructed the radiological dose for birds observed at 300 census sites in the 50-km northwest area affected by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant over 2011-2014. Substituting the ambient dose rate measured at the census points (from 0.16 to 31 μGy h(-1)) with the dose rate reconstructed for adult birds of each species (from 0.3 to 97 μGy h(-1)), we confirmed that the overall bird abundance at Fukushima decreased with increasing total doses. This relationship was directly consistent with exposure levels found in the literature to induce physiological disturbances in birds. Among the 57 species constituting the observed bird community, we found that 90% were likely chronically exposed at a dose rate that could potentially affect their reproductive success. We quantified a loss of 22.6% of the total number of individuals per increment of one unit log10-tansformed total dose (in Gy), over the four-year post-accident period in the explored area. We estimated that a total dose of 0.55 Gy reduced by 50% the total number of birds in the study area over 2011-2014. The data also suggest a significant positive relationship between total dose and species diversity.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, Pôle Radioprotection, Environnement, Déchets, Crise, PRP-ENV/SERIS, Cadarache, Bâtiment 159, BP3, F-13115 Saint Paul lez Durance Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garnier-Laplace
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, Pôle Radioprotection, Environnement, Déchets, Crise, PRP-ENV/SERIS, Cadarache, Bâtiment 159, BP3, F-13115 Saint Paul lez Durance Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Beaugelin-Seiller
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, Pôle Radioprotection, Environnement, Déchets, Crise, PRP-ENV/SERIS, Cadarache, Bâtiment 159, BP3, F-13115 Saint Paul lez Durance Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Della-Vedova
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, Pôle Radioprotection, Environnement, Déchets, Crise, PRP-ENV/SERIS, Cadarache, Bâtiment 159, BP3, F-13115 Saint Paul lez Durance Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Métivier
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 26 DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ritz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Mousseau
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, CNRS UMR 8079, Université Paris-Sud, Bâtiment 362, F-91405 Orsay Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Anders Pape
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Møller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011157:Population Dynamics; D000069079:Radiation Exposure; D012098:Reproduction / Q000528:radiation effects*