The brightly colored birds that shares the nature's beauty and captures our eyes and drive the bird watchers crazy, in fact are the most vulnerable to the nature's ailments.
affected by chernobyl radiation 9
It has been "shockingly" found that Chernobyl radiation at varying distances from a nuclear plant reactor, which affect almost all lives, most adversely and considerably affect the brightly colored bird species.
Populations of four bird groups, with red, yellow and orange plumage, are found to have declined in numbers more than any other species. The bright colors of these birds are based on carotenoids and are hit the hardest by ionizing radiation compared to others.
These birds, most vulnerable to high levels of nuclear radiation are common about their laying the biggest eggs and migrate or disperse the furthest.
Explaining why some species are harder hit by ionizing radiation than others, Dr Anders Møller of the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie and Professor Timothy Mousseau of the University of South Carolina said:
The intriguing results centre on the role of antioxidants - chemicals that help protect living organisms from the damaging effects of free radicals. Certain activities use up large amounts of antioxidants. These include producing carotenoid-based pigments for feathers, migrating long distances and laying large eggs (birds lay down antioxidants in their eggs, and will deposit larger amounts of antioxidants in larger eggs). Møller and Mousseau hypothesized that because they had fewer antioxidants left to mop up dangerous free radicals, these birds would most adversely affected by exposure to radiation around Chernobyl.
This is the first study of the kind, finding a link between the effects of radiation on different bird species' population size to their defence to antioxidants.
True, most species fall victim to the potentially detrimental effects of the nuclear reactors' free radicals, the brightly colored, beautiful innocent birds fall the greatest victims to the nuisance of man's plundering the pristine environment - pity we humans, for knowingly digging our own poisonous graves for a short-lived pleasure.
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