Results for
137Cs,
40K,
90Sr,
238,239+240Pu,
241Am and
243+244Cm measurements in plant, insects and forest litter samples collected at three sites in Poland are presented. New results
are compared with some existing data for locations examined during previous studies. Insect samples were introduced now for
the first time. Relatively high activities of
90Sr were noticed for spruce bark beetle (
Ips typographus) and those for
137Cs, plutonium and
241Am for forest dung beetle (
Anoplotrupes stercorosus). Faster than caused by physical decay decrease of radiocesium activity was noticed for the majority of plant and litter
samples. The results for
239+240Pu for litter were similar to previous results, but the activities of
238Pu were smaller. The activity ratio between
241Am and
239+240Pu was found lower than expected for known proportions between global and Chernobyl fallout. Thus a kind of dynamic behavior
of Pu and Am in the forest ecosystem is concluded. Transfer factors and aggregation coefficients were estimated and discussed
for both plants and insects as well as between insects and the part of plants (or litter) they feed on. Many of them were
never presented before.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.