Radionuclides’ content in forest ecosystem located in southwestern part of Serbia

Forests, with a large coverage of lands area, represent important ecosystem. They have greater ability to absorb atmospheric pollutant, including radionuclides compared to other vegetation types. Thus it is important to monitor radionuclides concentration in forest ecosystems. The results of the first gamma-spectrometric measurements in 16500 ha large region of South-western Serbia are presented. It is investigated activity concentrations of 40K, 137Cs and 210Pb in different deciduous and evergreen trees in the region. For all investigated isotopes, it was observed tendency that the smallest activity concentrations in average were found in tree stem, than in leaves, while the highest ones were in soil. Statistical analysis did not show any differences between activity concentrations of leaves and needles, showing that both leaves and needles could be equally well used as a biomonitors.