The uptake and translocation of caesium 134 and strontium 85 in bracken Pteridium aquilinum (Dennstaedtiaceae: pteridophyta).

This is a report of preliminary research in which the study of the morphology and physiology of bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) is combined with the investigation of uptake of radionuclides from accidental nuclear release. Monitoring the uptake and translocation of artificially applied radioactive Caesium and radioactive strontium in bracken plants should help to indicate how these radionuclides with contrasting behaviour enter and cycle through a long lived element of an important ecosystem. This is a report of preliminary research in which the study of the morphology and physiology of bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) is combined with the investigation of uptake of radionuclides from accidental nuclear release. Monitoring the uptake and translocation of artificially applied radioactive Caesium and radioactive strontium in bracken plants should help to indicate how these radionuclides with contrasting behaviour enter and cycle through a long lived element of an important ecosystem.