The pollen quality of woody and herbaceous plants from the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

Pollen abnormalities frequency of Scots pine and pollen sterility of white clover, common columbine, and greater celandine growing in the Bryansk and Gomel' regions radioactively contaminated after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) were assessed. The frequency of abnormal pine pollen at the most contaminated plots significantly exceeded the control level and positively correlated with the total absorbed dose and the absorbed dose from β-radiation. No sustainable significant changes in pollen sterility of the herbaceous plants studied were found in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl NPP.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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