How would radiation (read: Nuclear Apocalypse) affect plant life? What would survive?

What kinds of vegetation (fungi, lichens, plants) would survive radiation above say 1,000 rads (the point fatal to humans)? How might the change in environment affect plant life for plants out in the open? What about for plants in caves or inside ruined buildings?

 

Re: How would radiation (read: Nuclear Apocalypse) affect plant life? What would surv

there was a program/documentary done a few months back i think it was called 'life after humans'. or something like that. on discovery channel, if i remember correctly. could have been the history channel, though.

the focus was what would happen with the vegetation and the animal populations if we were no longer here. most of the visuals were computer generated...it was suppositions mostly.

there was a segment about chernobyl...now, THAT was the perfect focus for the documentary and it answers your question, too.

nature knows what to do to compensate for the various events that occur - whether they are natural or man-made.

basically, there'd be a die-off as direct result of the disaster - some immediately and some as result of residual atmospheric conditions...virtually everything would grow back at some point, though. even if the radioactivity level was still high (as it still is in chernobyl)

 

Re: How would radiation (read: Nuclear Apocalypse) affect plant life? What would surv

The reason I ask is become I'm a writing/film major and I'm working out an idea for a story that involves life after a nuclear war. Basically humans and large animals are all gone. I wanted to focus on a bunch of small insects as if they had intelligence (it's not a serious story at all, picture Antz or A Bug's Life). I pictured fungal jungles with giant mosses and fungi. But then I thought, a lot of plant species probably wouldn't survive, and I would probably be surprised at would actually survive. Although it doesn't need to be scientifically accurate in any way, I find doing research really opens doors and fuels creative energy.

So thank you for the reference to the documentary, I'm going to see if I can find a copy of it.

 

Re: How would radiation (read: Nuclear Apocalypse) affect plant life? What would surv

Not sure if you have access to this or not, but if you do, check out Field Studies of the Effect of Ionizing Radiation on Lichens -- in brief, very little effect on them. So, at least some lichens would survive. They'd make an interesting micro-landscape, particularly in the absence of other competitors.

 

Re: How would radiation (read: Nuclear Apocalypse) affect plant life? What would surv

Any deep-rooted plants which have the ability to sprout from the roots would survive, as very little of the radiation would penetrate to any depth (only gamma).

Also trees with thick branches might retain live bark on the undersides of branches which could sprout.

For the famous Ginkgo biloba trees which survived the Hiroshima bomb, see the details here: http://www.xs4all.nl/~kwanten/hiroshima.htm

 

Re: How would radiation (read: Nuclear Apocalypse) affect plant life? What would surv

Link sounds like a good resource but I do not have access. I'll check around the web and see what I can dig up.
EDIT: I think my university may have a copy in their library archives somewhere. They are affiliated with JSTOR. I'll call tomorrow. Thank you.

 

Re: How would radiation (read: Nuclear Apocalypse) affect plant life? What would surv

NO I don't have access to the article. Heck, I may just end up buying it when my next paycheck comes. It's only 10 bucks.