Estimation of status of small rodents’ natural populations from the transformed ecosystems of the Chornobyl exclusion zone according to the complex of biological indicators

Abstract

Morphophysiological and hematological parameters of different species and ontogenesis types of mice rodents from the drained areas of the Chornobyl cooling pond were studied for the first time; comparative analysis, including data of control and stable populations of the Chornobyl exclusion zone, was performed. Radioecological characterization of the research sites was carried out; the contents of the main dose-forming radionuclides were determined; animals’ exposure doses were estimated. In all experimental groups, similar changes in the hematopoietic system were observed, however, pathological features were less pronounced in individuals from the drained areas of the cooling pond. It was revealed that in the animal body under the chronic low dose exposure activation of compensatory and recovery processes occurs along with the destructive processes. It has been shown that the lifetime increase in radiation exposure of mature animals causes the imbalance of bone marrow hematopoiesis with the gradual exhaustion of blood system potential.

Keywords

• chornobyl exclusion zone
• rodents
• radionuclides
• blood system
• morphophysiological indicators
• onthogenetic approach.