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Ecosystem

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Temperate Forest and Shrubland

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone covers about 2,600 square kilometers of Ukraine's Kyiv Oblast, established in 1986 after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster forced the evacuation of roughly 120,000 people from the city of Pripyat and more than 187 surrounding communities. Nearly four decades of almost complete human absence have allowed the zone's forests and wetlands to recover into what researchers now describe as one of Europe's largest de facto nature reserves, with wolves, wild boar, deer, moose and eagles now living at higher densities than before the disaster. Przewalski's horses and European bison have been reintroduced to the zone, and scientists continue to study how elevated radiation levels affect the health of the wildlife that now thrives there.

Facts
Classification
Biogeographic Realm
Palearctic 1
Area (sq km)
2600 2
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
Filter Results10 entries

Black stork

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

European Bison

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Gray Wolf

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Great Egret

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Least Weasel

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Przewalski's Horse

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Short-eared owl

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Wels Catfish

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus)

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
Connections

Demonstrates

Succession, Natural Phenomena

Decades of human absence following the 1986 disaster have allowed ecological succession to reclaim the exclusion zone's fields and settlements.

Source Encyclopaedia Britannica

Hosts

Black stork, Species
Source Wikidata: Least Weasel
Additional Source Chernobyl exclusion zone (Wikipedia)Article text
Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), Species
Source Wikidata: Least Weasel
Additional Source Chernobyl exclusion zone (Wikipedia)Article text
European Bison, Species
Source World Wildlife Fund
Gray Wolf, Species
Source World Wildlife Fund
Great Egret, Species
Source Wikidata: Least Weasel
Additional Source Chernobyl exclusion zone (Wikipedia)Article text
Least Weasel, Species
Source Wikidata: Least Weasel
Additional Source Chernobyl exclusion zone (Wikipedia)Article text
Przewalski's Horse, Species
Source World Wildlife Fund
Short-eared owl, Species
Source Wikidata: Least Weasel
Additional Source Chernobyl exclusion zone (Wikipedia)Article text
Wels Catfish, Species
Source Silurus glanis (Wikipedia)
Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus), Species
Source Wikidata: Least Weasel
Additional Source Chernobyl exclusion zone (Wikipedia)Article text

In Biome

Temperate Forest, Biomes
Source World Wildlife Fund
In the Other Atlases

Found In

Belarus

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Ukraine

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Chernobyl exclusion zone
WikipediaIntroduction
Quote, Introduction
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, also known as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone or Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, is also called the 30-Kilometre Zone or simply The Zone, was established shortly after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union.
View the Source
2. Chernobyl exclusion zone (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Lead section, third paragraph, stating the current restricted zone area
    The current area of approximately 2,600 km2 (1,000 sq mi) in Ukraine is where radioactive contamination is the highest, and public access and habitation are accordingly restricted.
  • Hosts: Least Weasel, Article text
    The populations of traditional Polesian animals (such as the gray wolf, badger, wild boar, roe deer, white-tailed eagle, black stork, western marsh harrier, short-eared owl, red deer, moose, great egret, whooper swan, least weasel, common kestrel, and beaver) have multiplied enormously and begun expanding outside the zone.
  • Hosts: Great Egret, Article text
    The populations of traditional Polesian animals (such as the gray wolf, badger, wild boar, roe deer, white-tailed eagle, black stork, western marsh harrier, short-eared owl, red deer, moose, great egret, whooper swan, least weasel, common kestrel, and beaver) have multiplied enormously and begun expanding outside the zone.
  • Hosts: Black stork, Article text
    The populations of traditional Polesian animals (such as the gray wolf, badger, wild boar, roe deer, white-tailed eagle, black stork, western marsh harrier, short-eared owl, red deer, moose, great egret, whooper swan, least weasel, common kestrel, and beaver) have multiplied enormously and begun expanding outside the zone.
  • Hosts: Short-eared owl, Article text
    The populations of traditional Polesian animals (such as the gray wolf, badger, wild boar, roe deer, white-tailed eagle, black stork, western marsh harrier, short-eared owl, red deer, moose, great egret, whooper swan, least weasel, common kestrel, and beaver) have multiplied enormously and begun expanding outside the zone.
  • Hosts: Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus), Article text
    The populations of traditional Polesian animals (such as the gray wolf, badger, wild boar, roe deer, white-tailed eagle, black stork, western marsh harrier, short-eared owl, red deer, moose, great egret, whooper swan, least weasel, common kestrel, and beaver) have multiplied enormously and begun expanding outside the zone.
  • Hosts: Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), Article text
    The populations of traditional Polesian animals (such as the gray wolf, badger, wild boar, roe deer, white-tailed eagle, black stork, western marsh harrier, short-eared owl, red deer, moose, great egret, whooper swan, least weasel, common kestrel, and beaver) have multiplied enormously and begun expanding outside the zone.
View the Source
World Wildlife Fund
World Wildlife Fund
  • In Biome: Temperate Forest
  • Hosts: Gray Wolf
  • Hosts: European Bison
  • Hosts: Przewalski's Horse
View the Source
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Demonstrates: SuccessionView the Source
Silurus glanis (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Wels Catfish, article text (ecosystem), EntityId 279954, target E303059
Quote, Hosts: Wels Catfish, article text (ecosystem), EntityId 279954, target E303059
An unusual habitat for the species exists inside the Chernobyl exclusion zone, where a small population lives in abandoned cooling ponds and channels at a close distance to the decommissioned power plant.
View the Source

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