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 <sup>137</sup>Cs root uptake was demonstrated to have considerable similarity both for the investigated areas and for different ecotops inside of the areas. significant discrimination of <sup>137</sup>Cs transfer from soil into plants, a preferential deposition of <sup>137</sup>Cs 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 <sup>137</sup>Cs 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.