title: Input and output budgets of radiocesium concerning the forest floor in the mountain forest of Fukushima released from the TEPCO's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident.
abstract: Estimations of radiocesium input and output concerning the forest floor within a mountain forest region have been conducted in the north and central part of the Abukuma Mountains of Fukushima, northeast Japan, after a 2-3 year period following the TEPCO Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident. The radiocesium input and output associated with surface washoff, throughfall, stemflow, and litterfall processes at experimental plots installed on the forest floor of evergreen Japanese cedars and deciduous Konara oaks have been monitored. Despite the high output potential in the mountainous forest of Fukushima, the results at both monitoring locations show the radiocesium input to be 4-50 times higher than the output during the summer monsoon in Fukushima. These results indicate that the radiocesium tends to be preserved in the forest ecosystem due to extremely low output ratios (0.05%-0.19%). Thus, the associated fluxes throughout the circulation process are key issues for the projecting the environmental fate of the radiocesium levels, along with the subsequent reconstruction of life emphasized within the setting.
authors.affiliation: Fukushima Environmental Safety Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Fukushima 963-7700, Japan. Electronic address: niizato.tadafumi@jaea.go.jp.
authors.forename: Tadafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Niizato
authors.affiliation: Fukushima Environmental Safety Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Fukushima 963-7700, Japan.
authors.forename: Hironobu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.affiliation: Fukushima Environmental Safety Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Fukushima 963-7700, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsuaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mitachi
authors.affiliation: Fukushima Environmental Safety Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Fukushima 963-7700, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.affiliation: Fukushima Environmental Safety Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Fukushima 963-7700, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.affiliation: Fukushima Environmental Safety Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Fukushima 963-7700, Japan.
authors.forename: Takayoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D032485:Cryptomeria; D029962:Fagaceae; D065928:Forests; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D007564:Japan; D018515:Plant Leaves; D018547:Plant Stems; D029963:Quercus; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011848:Radioactive Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D011848:Radioactive Pollutants
keywords: Forest ecosystem; Input and output budgets; Mountainous forest; Radiocesium; TEPCO's Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP accident