動物已率先回歸世上最重大核災的遺址—車諾比

原文網址：www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151005132553.htm

Chernobyl: At site of world's worst nuclear disaster, the animals have returned

動物已率先回歸世上最重大核災的遺址—車諾比

In 1986, after a fire and explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant released radioactive particles into the air, thousands of people left the area, never to return. Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 5 have found that the Chernobyl site looks less like a disaster zone and more like a nature preserve, teeming with elk, roe deer, red deer, wild boar, and wolves.

1986年，在車諾比核電廠起火爆炸，往空氣釋放大量放射性粒子後，數以千計的人們離開了這個地區，再也沒有回來。研究人員8/5於細胞出版社的期刊《當代生物學》(Current Biology)中記述，他們發現車諾比廢墟目前看起來不像是重災區，反而比較像自然保護區，有成群的馬鹿、麆鹿、紅鹿、野豬和野狼生活於此。

The findings are a reminder of the resilience of wildlife. They may also hold important lessons for understanding the potential long-term impact of the more recent Fukushima disaster in Japan.

這項發現提醒了我們野生生物的生命力是如此堅韌。而這對我們欲瞭解最近發生的一次核災—日本福島事件的長期影響來說，也是十分重要的一課。

"It's very likely that wildlife numbers at Chernobyl are much higher than they were before the accident," says Jim Smith of the University of Portsmouth in the UK. "This doesn't mean radiation is good for wildlife, just that the effects of human habitation, including hunting, farming, and forestry, are a lot worse."

「車諾比的野生動物數目很有可能比事故發生之前還高出許多，」英國樸茨茅斯大學的Jim Smith說。「這並不代表放射性有益於野生生物，只是人類居住的影響，包括狩獵、農耕以及伐林造成的影響更為糟糕。」

Earlier studies in the 4,200 km² Chernobyl Exclusion Zone showed major radiation effects and pronounced reductions in wildlife populations. The new evidence, based on long-term census data, now shows that mammal populations have bounced back.

更早對車諾比隔離區4200平方公里進行的研究顯示，大量輻射造成了野生生物族群數目大幅降低。然而，根據長期普查數據而得出的新證據顯示，目前哺乳類族群的數目已經回升。

The relative abundance of elk, roe deer, red deer, and wild boar within the exclusion zone are now similar to those in four uncontaminated nature reserves in the region, the researchers report. The number of wolves living in and around the Chernobyl site is more than seven times greater than can be found in those nature reserves.

研究人員記述，在隔離區內的馬鹿、麆鹿、紅鹿和野豬的數目，已跟位於同一地區中的四座保護區相去不遠。而車諾比場址之內和周圍的野狼數目甚至是那些自然保護區的七倍以上。

Helicopter survey data also reveal rising trends in the abundance of elk, roe deer, and wild boar from 1 to 10 years after the accident. A dip in the wild boar population at one point was traced to a disease outbreak unrelated to radiation exposure.

直升機調查的數據也顯示馬鹿、麆鹿和野豬的數量在事故發生之後1至10年便開始有上升趨勢。野豬數目雖然曾一度下降，但原因可追溯至疾病爆發而非暴露於輻射下。

"These results demonstrate for the first time that, regardless of potential radiation effects on individual animals, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone supports an abundant mammal community after nearly three decades of chronic radiation exposure," the researchers conclude. They note that these increases came at a time when elk and wild boar populations were declining in other parts of the former Soviet Union.

「這些調查結果首度顯示，不管輻射對單一生物個體的作用如何，車諾比隔離區歷經了30年的長期輻射暴露，仍可以讓相當大量的哺乳類族群生存於此。」研究人員總結說。他們注意到馬鹿和野豬數目開始增加的時間點，卻是牠們在前蘇聯其他地區數目開始減少之時。

"I've been working, studying, and taking photos of the wonderful wildlife in the Chernobyl area for over 20 years and am very pleased our work is reaching an international scientific audience," says Tatiana Deryabina from the Polessye State Radioecological Reserve in Belarus, a few miles from the site of the Chernobyl accident.

「我在車諾比地區工作、進行研究和拍攝這些美好的野生生物已經超過了20年，現在我十分高興我們的工作成果終於能傳達到國際科學社群之中」Tatiana Deryabina說，他工作的地點，白俄羅斯的波利西亞國家輻射生態保育區距車諾比意外場址只有幾公里之遙。

"These unique data showing a wide range of animals thriving within miles of a major nuclear accident illustrate the resilience of wildlife populations when freed from the pressures of human habitation," says Jim Beasley, a study co-author at the University of Georgia.

「這些獨一無二的數據展現出在重大核災區的數公里內，各式各樣的動物仍能繁榮興旺。這說明了當脫離了人類定居造成的壓力後，野生生物有多麼地強韌。」共同作者，喬治亞大學的Jim Beasley說。

引用自：Cell Press. "Chernobyl: At site of world's worst nuclear disaster, the animals have returned." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 October 2015.