Comparative Analysis of <sup>137</sup>Cs Root Uptake in Grassland Ecosystems of Areas Affected by Chernobyl Fallout of Different Levels
Similar semi-natural grass ecosystems of dry and wet meadows in the Chernozem zone with different levels of radioactive post-Chernobyl contamination were studied in the remote period after the accident. The intensity of 137Cs root uptake was demonstrated to have considerable similarity both for the investigated areas and for different ecotops inside of the areas. significant discrimination of 137Cs transfer from soil into plants, a preferential deposition of 137Cs in the belowground biomass of vegetation (due to a low translocation of the radionuclide in cereal species) were established. Also until the present time the bulk of the 137Cs inventories in chernozems and chernozem-like soils and in the belowground biomass has concentrated in the surface of a 10-cm layer, corresponding to rizosphere and serving the reproduction in the biogeochemical cycle of the radionuclide.