Evaluation of DNA damage and stress in wildlife chronically exposed to low-dose, low-dose rate radiation from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

The health effects associated with chronic low-dose, low-dose rate (LD-LDR) exposures to environmental radiation are uncertain. All dose-effect studies conducted outside controlled laboratory conditions are challenged by inherent complexities of ecological systems and difficulties quantifying dose to free-ranging organisms in natural environments. Consequently, the effects of chronic LD-LDR radiation exposures on wildlife health remain poorly understood and much debated. Here, samples from wild boar (Sus scrofa leucomystax) and rat snakes (Elaphe spp.) were collected between 2016 and 2018 across a gradient of radiation exposures in Fukushima, Japan. In vivo biomarkers of DNA damage and stress were evaluated as a function of multiple measurements of radiation dose. Specifically, we assessed frequencies of dicentric chromosomes (Telomere-Centromere Fluorescence in situ Hybridization: TC-FISH), telomere length (Telo-FISH, qPCR), and cortisol hormone levels (Enzyme Immunoassay: EIA) in wild boar, and telomere length (qPCR) in snakes. These biological parameters were then correlated to robust calculations of radiation dose rate at the time of capture and plausible upper bound lifetime dose, both of which incorporated internal and external dose. No significant relationships were observed between dicentric chromosome frequencies or telomere length and dose rate at capture or lifetime dose (p value range: 0.20-0.97). Radiation exposure significantly associated only with cortisol, where lower concentrations were associated with higher dose rates (r² = 0.58; p < 0.0001), a relationship that was likely due to other (unmeasured) factors. Our results suggest that wild boar and snakes chronically exposed to LD-LDR radiation sufficient to prohibit human occupancy were not experiencing significant adverse health effects as assessed by biomarkers of DNA damage and stress.

Functional traits driving species role in the structure of terrestrial vertebrate scavenger networks

Species assemblages often have a non-random nested organization, which in vertebrate scavenger (carrion-consuming) assemblages is thought to be driven by facilitation in competitive environments. However, not all scavenger species play the same role in maintaining assemblage structure, as some species are obligate scavengers (i.e., vultures) and others are facultative, scavenging opportunistically. We used a database with 177 vertebrate scavenger species from 53 assemblages in 22 countries across five continents to identify which functional traits of scavenger species are key to maintaining the scavenging network structure. We used network analyses to relate ten traits hypothesized to affect assemblage structure with the "role" of each species in the scavenging assemblage in which it appeared. We characterized the role of a species in terms of both the proportion of monitored carcasses on which that species scavenged, or scavenging breadth (i.e., the species "normalized degree"), and the role of that species in the nested structure of the assemblage (i.e., the species "paired nested degree"), therefore identifying possible facilitative interactions among species. We found that species with high olfactory acuity, social foragers, and obligate scavengers had the widest scavenging breadth. We also found that social foragers had a large paired nested degree in scavenger assemblages, probably because their presence is easier to detect by other species to signal carcass occurrence. Our study highlights differences in the functional roles of scavenger species and can be used to identify key species for targeted conservation to maintain the ecological function of scavenger assemblages.

Radiocesium concentrations and GPS-coupled dosimetry in Fukushima snakes

One of the largest releases of radioactive contamination in history occurred at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP). Although the accident happened in 2011, questions still persist regarding its ecological impacts. For example, relatively little is known about radiocesium accumulation in snakes, despite their high trophic status, limited home range sizes, and close association with soil where many radionuclides accumulate. This study presents one of the most comprehensive radioecological studies of snakes published to date using a combination of whole-body radiocesium analyses, GPS transmitters, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimeters. The objectives were to: 1) quantify whole-body radiocesium activity concentrations and internal dose rates among several common species of snakes within and around the Fukushima Exclusion Zone (FEZ), 2) determine effects of species, sex, and body size on radiocesium activity concentrations, 3) measure external dose rates using GPS-coupled dosimeters deployed on free-ranging snakes, 4) compare field-derived empirical dose rates to those generated by computer simulation software (i.e., the ERICA tool), and 5) determine if incorporating snake behavior into computer models improve simulated estimates of external dose. Whole-body radiocesium levels for snakes were highly variable among individuals (16 to 25,000 Bq/kg, FW), but were influenced more by levels of local contamination than species, sex, or size. Doses recorded by OSL dosimeters on snakes, as well as modeling in ERICA, suggest that individual movements and behavior have a substantial influence on dose rates to snakes. However, dose estimates produced with ERICA were comparable to dose received by tracked snakes. The average external plus internal dose rate for snakes captured in the FEZ was 3.6-3.9 μGy/h, with external dose contributing 80% to the total. Further research regarding reptile-specific benchmark dose rates would improve risk assessment for reptiles in radiologically contaminated areas.