Baseline radioecological data for the soil and selected bioindicator organisms in the temperate forest of Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia.

The aim of this study was to provide baseline radioecological data for the temperate forest ecosystem in Plitvice Lakes National Park. Emphasis was placed on the determination of naturally occurring radionuclides since there is an acknowledged lack of data for these radionuclides in non-accident conditions in wildlife, even for bioindicator organisms. Activity concentrations of (238)U, (226)Ra, (210)Pb, (232)Th, (40)K, (134)Cs, and (137)Cs were measured by gamma spectrometry in soil and bioindicators: earthworms, conifer needles, mosses, and lichens. From the measured activity concentrations, concentration ratios were calculated to quantify the transfer of these radionuclides from soil to bioindicators. Our results show that soil activity concentrations are biased toward results from other studies conducted within the Dinaric mountain region. However, in moss and lichen samples, we measured higher activity concentrations of (226)Ra and lower activity concentrations of (40)K and (137)Cs in comparison to similar studies. Also, we estimated lower concentration ratios for all radionuclides from soil to these organisms, except for (210)Pb, in comparison to generic values. The transfer of (238)U was generally low for all of the bioindicator organisms. For conifer needles, a correlation was found between activity concentrations of (226)Ra and (137)Cs in soil and related concentration ratios. Correlation was also found between the activity concentration of (40)K in soil and transfer of (40)K and (137)Cs to mosses and lichens. A comparison with literature data highlighted the lack of (226)Ra related concentration ratios for conifer trees and especially for earthworms. Therefore, the results of this study could supplement the sparse data currently available on radionuclide background data in similar ecosystems and related soil-to-wildlife transfer of radionuclides. Dose rate assessments, performed by the ERICA Tool, estimated that 96% of the overall exposure of wildlife in the Park area is due to the background dose rates, while 0.06 muGy h(-1) on average can be attributed as an incremental dose rate from (134)Cs and (137)Cs.