Modelling of radiocesium transfer in the lichen-reindeer/caribou-wolf food chain

The environmental contaminate radiocesium (cesium-137) has been shown to be of value as a marker in food selection and intake studies. Its greatest potential value as a food marker is in the subarctic/arctic regions, particularly in the lichen to reindeer/caribou to wolf food chain. A kinetic model...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Rangifer
Main Authors: D. F. Holleman, R. G. White, A. C. Allaye-Chan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Septentrio Academic Publishing 1990
Subjects:
caribou
radioactivity
environment
fallout
transfer systems
cesium
Animal culture
SF1-1100
Arctic
Rangifer
Subarctic
Alaska
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.7557/2.10.3.819
https://doaj.org/article/0518a7f924b9416cba56510b1949915b
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Summary:The environmental contaminate radiocesium (cesium-137) has been shown to be of value as a marker in food selection and intake studies. Its greatest potential value as a food marker is in the subarctic/arctic regions, particularly in the lichen to reindeer/caribou to wolf food chain. A kinetic model describing the movement of radiocesium through the food chain has been developed using the SAAM computer program and is presented here. The program has been written so that the various paramenters affecting the transfer of radiocesium in the food chain can be altered more realistically to describe the system being modeled. The values of the parameters as given in this example are realistic for interior Alaska, however caution should be exercised in the application of the present results to regions that may be vastly different from the Alaskan interior without first evaluating the parameters and assumptions of the model.

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