Biotesting of radioactively contaminated forest soils using barley-based bioassay

Findings from radioactivity and phytotoxicity study are presented for soils from nine study-sites of the Klintsovsky Forestry located in the Bryansk region that were radioactively contaminated after the Chernobyl accident. According to the bioassay based on barley as test-species, stimulating effect of the soils analyzed is revealed for biological indexes of the length of barley roots and sprouts. From data on ¹³⁷Cs specific activities in soils and plant biomass, the migration potential of radionuclide in the "soil-plant" system is assessed as a transfer factor. With correlation analysis, an impact of ¹³⁷Cs in soil on the biological characteristics of barley is estimated.