The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster caused serious radiocesium (Cs-137) contamination of forest ecosystems over a wide area. Forest-floor organic layers play a key role in controlling the overall bioavailability of Cs-137 in forest ecosystems; however, there is still an insufficient understanding of how forest types influence the retention capability of Cs-137 in organic layers in Japanese forest ecosystems. Here we conducted plot-scale investigations on the retention of Cs-137 in organic layers at two contrasting forest sites in Fukushima. In a deciduous broad-leaved forest, approximately 80% of the deposited Cs-137 migrated to mineral soil located below the organic layers within two years after the accident, with an ecological half-life of approximately one year. Conversely, in an evergreen coniferous forest, more than half of the deposited Cs-137 remained in the organic layers, with an ecological halflife of 2.1 years. The observed retention behavior can be well explained by the tree phenology and accumulation of Cs-137 associated with litter materials with different degrees of degradation in the organic layers. Spatial and temporal patterns of gamma-ray dose rates depended on the retention capability. Our results demonstrate that enhanced radiation risks last longer in evergreen coniferous forests than in deciduous broad-leaved forests.
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