Editing Chernobyl exclusion zone (section)

===Current state of the ecosystem===
Despite the negative effect of the disaster on human life, many scientists see an overall beneficial effect to the [[ecosystem]]. Though the immediate effects of the accident were negative, the area quickly recovered and is today seen as very healthy. The lack of people in the area has increased the [[biodiversity]] of the Exclusion Zone in the years since the disaster.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last=Hopkin|first=Michael|date=9 August 2005|title=Chernobyl ecosystems 'remarkably healthy'|url=http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050808/full/news050808-4.html|journal=Nature News|pages=news050808–4|doi=10.1038/news050808-4|access-date=15 June 2017|via=www.Nature.com|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In the aftermath of the disaster, radioactive contamination in the air had a decidedly negative effect on the fauna, vegetation, rivers, lakes, and groundwater of the area. The radiation resulted in deaths among coniferous plants, soil invertebrates, and mammals, as well as a decline in reproductive numbers among both plants and animals.<ref>WHO. (2005). Chernobyl: the true scale of the accident.</ref>

The surrounding forest was covered in radioactive particles, resulting in the death of 400 hectares of the most immediate pine trees, though radiation damage can be found in an area of tens of thousands of hectares.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chornobyl.in.ua/en/red-forest-in-chernobyl-zone.html|title=Red forest: description of radioactive dead ecosystem {{!}} Чернобыль, Припять, зона отчуждения ЧАЭС|website=chornobyl.in.ua|language=en-US|access-date=2017-06-22|archive-date=31 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531024454/http://chornobyl.in.ua/en/red-forest-in-chernobyl-zone.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> An additional concern is that as the dead trees in the Red Forest (named for the color of the dead pines) decay, contamination is leaking into the groundwater.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKTjYeWO5E0C|title=Chernobyl - What Have We Learned?: The Successes and Failures to Mitigate Water Contamination Over 20 Years|last1=Onishi|first1=Yasuo|last2=Voitsekhovich|first2=Oleg V.|last3=Zheleznyak|first3=Mark J.|date=3 June 2007|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9781402053498|language=en|chapter=Chapter 2.6 - Radionucleotides in Groundwater in the CEZ}}</ref>

Despite all this, Professor Nick Beresford, an expert on Chernobyl and ecology, said that "the overall effect was positive" for the wildlife in the area.<ref name=":1">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/23/wildlife-returns-to-radioactive-wasteland-of-chernobyl/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/23/wildlife-returns-to-radioactive-wasteland-of-chernobyl/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=30 years after Chernobyl disaster, wildlife is flourishing in radioactive wasteland|date=24 April 2016|newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=8 January 2018|first=Roland|last=Oliphant|quote="You could say that the overall affect was positive," said Professor Nick Beresford, an expert on Chernobyl based at the centre for Ecology and hydrology in Lancaster.}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The impact of radiation on individual animals has not been studied, but cameras in the area have captured evidence of a resurgence of the mammalian population – including rare animals such as the [[lynx]] and the vulnerable European bison.<ref name=":1" />

Research on the health of Chernobyl's wildlife is ongoing, and there is concern that the wildlife still suffers from some of the negative effects of the radiation exposure. Though it will be years before researchers collect the necessary data to fully understand the effects, for now, the area is essentially one of Europe's largest [[nature preserves]]. Overall, an assessment by [[Plant physiology|plant biochemist]] Stuart Thompson concluded, "the burden brought by radiation at Chernobyl is less severe than the benefits reaped from humans leaving the area." In fact, the ecosystem around the power plant "supports more life than before".