Chronic radiation exposure modifies temporal dynamics of cytogenetic but not reproductive indicators in Scots pine populations

Highlights: • Reproductive and cytogenetic effects are investigated in Scots pine populations. • In reference populations cytogenetic abnormalities change with time in a cyclic manner. • In exposed populations the cyclic patterns in temporal dynamics appear to be disturbed. • A decrease in the frequencies of cytogenetic abnormalities with time is revealed. • No significant impact of radiation on time dynamics of reproductive indexes is detected. Over a period of 13 years (2003–2015), reproductive and cytogenetic effects are investigated in Scots pine populations growing in the Bryansk region of Russia radioactively contaminated as a result of the Chernobyl accident. In reference populations, the frequencies of cytogenetic abnormalities are shown to change with time in a cyclic manner. In chronically exposed populations, the cyclic patterns in temporal dynamics of cytogenetic abnormalities appear to be disturbed. In addition, a tendency to decrease in the frequencies of cytogenetic abnormalities with time as well as an increase in their variability with dose rate is revealed. In contrast, no significant impact of chronic radiation exposure on the time dynamics of reproductive indexes is detected. Finally, long-term observations on chronically exposed Scots pine populations revealed qualitative differences in the temporal dynamics of reproductive and cytogenetic indicators.