title: Addressing ecological effects of radiation on populations and ecosystems to improve protection of the environment against radiation: Agreed statements from a Consensus Symposium.
abstract: This paper reports the output of a consensus symposium organized by the International Union of Radioecology in November 2015. The symposium gathered an academically diverse group of 30 scientists to consider the still debated ecological impact of radiation on populations and ecosystems. Stimulated by the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters' accidental contamination of the environment, there is increasing interest in developing environmental radiation protection frameworks. Scientific research conducted in a variety of laboratory and field settings has improved our knowledge of the effects of ionizing radiation on the environment. However, the results from such studies sometimes appear contradictory and there is disagreement about the implications for risk assessment. The Symposium discussions therefore focused on issues that might lead to different interpretations of the results, such as laboratory versus field approaches, organism versus population and ecosystemic inference strategies, dose estimation approaches and their significance under chronic exposure conditions. The participating scientists, from across the spectrum of disciplines and research areas, extending also beyond the traditional radioecology community, successfully developed a constructive spirit directed at understanding discrepancies. From the discussions, the group has derived seven consensus statements related to environmental protection against radiation, which are supplemented with some recommendations. Each of these statements is contextualized and discussed in view of contributing to the orientation and integration of future research, the results of which should yield better consensus on the ecological impact of radiation and consolidate suitable approaches for efficient radiological protection of the environment.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), Centre of Cadarache, BP 3, 13115 St Paul-lez-Durance, Cedex, France; International Union of Radioecology (IUR), Center of Cadarache, BP 3, 13115 St Paul-lez-Durance, Cedex, France. Electronic address: francois.brechignac@irsn.fr.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bréchignac
authors.affiliation: Center for Environmental Radioactivity (CERAD), Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway. Electronic address: deborah.oughton@nmbu.no.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oughton
authors.affiliation: Institut Symlog de France, 262 rue Saint-Jacques, 75005 Paris, France. Electronic address: claire.mays@post.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mays
authors.affiliation: LWB Environmental Services, Inc., 1620 New London Rd., Hamilton, OH 45013, USA. Electronic address: barnthouse@lwb-env.com.
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barnthouse
authors.affiliation: University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory & Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, PO Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA. Electronic address: beasley@srel.uga.edu.
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Beasley
authors.affiliation: School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University AgCenter, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. Electronic address: andreabonisoli@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bonisoli-Alquati
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: clare.bradshaw@su.se.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA), Østerås, Norway. Electronic address: Justin.brown@nrpa.no.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon, France; Université Lyon 1, France; CNRS, UMR5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France. Electronic address: stephane.dray@univ-lyon1.fr.
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dray
authors.affiliation: Russian Institute of Radiology and Agroecology, Obninsk, Russia. Electronic address: stgeraskin@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Stanislav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Geras'kin
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. Electronic address: travisg@uga.edu.
authors.forename: Travis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Glenn
authors.affiliation: School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA. Electronic address: kathryn.higley@oregonstate.edu.
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Higley
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan. Electronic address: ishiken@es.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.affiliation: LK Consultancy, P.O. Box 373, Turner Valley, Alberta T0L 2A0, Canada. Electronic address: kapustka@xplornet.com.
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kapustka
authors.affiliation: Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co., (SKB), P.O. Box 250, SE-101 24 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: ulrikkau+iurj@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ulrik
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kautsky
authors.affiliation: Savannah River National Laboratory, Aiken, SC, USA. Electronic address: wendy.kuhne@srnl.doe.gov.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kuhne
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Indiana University, 1001 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. Electronic address: milynch@indiana.edu.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyvaskyla, P.O. Box 35, 40014 Jyvaskyla, Finland. Electronic address: tapio.mappes@jyu.fi.
authors.forename: Tapio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mappes
authors.affiliation: 388 Church Street, Russell, Ontario K4R 1A8, Canada. Electronic address: smihok@bell.net.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mihok
authors.affiliation: Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91405 Orsay, Cedex, France. Electronic address: anders.Moller@u-psud.fr.
authors.forename: Anders P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Møller
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: mothers@mcmaster.ca.
authors.forename: Carmel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mothersill
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, and, the School of Earth, Ocean and Environment, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. Electronic address: mousseau@sc.edu.
authors.forename: Timothy A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Mousseau
authors.affiliation: The BCPH Unit of Molecular Physiology, Department of Chemistry, Biology and Marine Science, Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan. Electronic address: otaki@sci.u-ryukyu.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Joji M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Otaki
authors.affiliation: Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Vorovsky Str. 68a, 454076 Chelyabinsk, Russia. Electronic address: pryakhin@yandex.ru.
authors.forename: Evgeny
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pryakhin
authors.affiliation: Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL), Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA. Electronic address: rhodes@srel.uga.edu.
authors.forename: Olin E
authors.initials: OE
authors.lastname: Rhodes
authors.affiliation: Center for Environmental Radioactivity (CERAD), Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, 1432 Aas, Norway. Electronic address: brit.salbu@nmbu.no.
authors.forename: Brit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Salbu
authors.affiliation: Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Universitetstunet 3, 1430 Ås, Norway. Electronic address: per.strand@nrpa.no.
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Strand
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Radioactivity, Fukushima University, 1 Kanayagawa, Fukushima-shi, Fukushima 960-1296, Japan. Electronic address: hirot@ipc.fukushima-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsukada
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D006801:Humans; D011835:Radiation Protection; D011839:Radiation, Ionizing; D012106:Research; D009626:Terminology as Topic
keywords: Consensus development; Ecological risk assessment; Ecosystems; Environmental protection; Populations; Radiation effects