Food chains and biogeochemical pathways: contributions of fallout and other radiotracers

This paper reviews examples of how measurements of global fallout in the environment and related tracer radionuclides have been used to enhance our basic knowledge of biogeochemical processes and food-chain pathways. Because it is these fundamental, natural processes that control the transport and accumulation of such trace substances in the environment, direct measurements of trace substances over time and space reveal strong insights into these processes. The necessity to monitor global fallout transport, although largely motivated by human health concerns, gave rise to a plethora of new information about plants, animals, and natural and agricultural ecosystems and how they function. This review provides a small selection of examples in the areas of plant and animal physiology, productivity and energy transfer in food chains, biogeochemical cycles of certain elements and their analogues, feeding relationships and movements of organisms, and the agriculture-based human food chain. It is concluded that if society is to cope successfully with continued growth of the human population and resource consumption, more knowledge is still required about these fundamental processes. The use of radiotracers can contribute greatly to this need, but current funding priorities, societal attitudes, and onerous regulations on the use of radioactivity may continue to limit such applications.