Cycling of Cesium‐134 in White Oak Trees

Slow Accumulation and Transfer and Radiostrontium by Young Loblolly Pines (pinus Taeda L.)

“…Transfusion bottles containing an aliquot of isotope solution diluted to 100 ml were inverted and left until all the inoculum was taken up by the trees. In all cases uptake occurred in less than 24 hr, a faster uptake than Witherspoon (1964) reported for the stem-well method. The bottles and tubing were then removed and the fittings plugged with aquarium cement.…”

“…The radiostrontium-inoculated pines required 13 months to reach maximum foliage activities. Stem-inoculated white oaks (Witherspoon 1964) and tulip poplars (Auerbach, Olson, and Waller 1964) accumulated maximum concentrations of radiocesium in 2-4 weeks. This difference in accumulation may in part be explained by the influence of cation exchange on translocation (Bell and Biddulph 1963).…”

“…Martin (1964) reported that by late 1961 there had been enough nuclear detonations to result in a worldwide deposition of 90 mCi of 90Sr and 160 mCi 137Cs per square mile. Transfer and accumulation of radiocesium in white oak (Witherspoon 1964) and tulip poplar forests (Auerbach, Olson, and Waller 1964, Witkamp and Frank 1964, Olson 1965, Waller and Olson 1967 have been thoroughly studied, but little is known about the behavior of radiostrontium in forests. The two elements probably move and accumulate in a considerably different manner.…”

Distribution of Cs 134 in Andropogon Scoparius Michx. Clones in Two Native Habitats

“…Most other alkali metal elements have half-lives that are either too short or too long to be satisfactory for field studies. Cycling of radiocesium also has practical implications in determining the movement of cesium, related alkali metals, and isotopes of each in natural ecosystems (Davis 1963, Witherspoon 1964. Use of radioactive isotopes has benefited investigations of mineral and nutrient cycling.…”

Accumulation and cycling of calcium by flowering Dogwood trees

“…These losses are much greater than those of cesium, an alkali metal, from trees because cesium moves basipetally as well as acropetally after inoculation and since a large percentage of foliar cesium returns to woody tissue before leaf fall. Witherspoon (1964) found that only 4o% of 134 cs inoculated in white oak trees in April reached ieaves by June; Waller and Olson (1967) Olson pointed out that alkaline earths should be transferred more rapidly than alkali metals to the :rarest floor ( v·lct h:!~l' fall ~nd folioT leaching) but that alkali metals would be expected to make a greater contrtbution to soil directly through roots.…”