Restoration of pine plantations after effect of ionizing radiation in the region of the accident at the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station

The main results of the 12-year radiation-genetic monitoring of radiobiological, cytogenetic, and genetic parameters in the Pinus sylvestris L. forest plantations from the zone of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant presented. Acute ionizing irradiation at doses > 1 Gy was shown to induce the formation of morphoses and depressed growth; at doses > 2 Gy, the reproductive ability of the trees declined. The radiobiological parameters showed a linear (or close to linear) dose-effect relationship. Acute irradiation at a dose of 0.5 Gy induced cytogenetic and genetic effects that were significantly higher than the corresponding control values. The relationship between the cytogenetic effects and the absorbed dose was exponential. The dependence of the mutation frequency at specific loci on the absorbed dose was described by a nonlinear curve. The results of cytogenetic analysis of sprouts obtained from seeds annually (1986-1998) collected in zones of slight, moderate, and strong damage of Pinus sylvestris L. are presented.