Eastern Lithuania Research Articles

Dialectal and diachronic distribution of case forms in Lithuanian pain-verb constructions

This article deals with the variation in case marking in ᴘᴀɪɴ-vᴇʀʙ ᴄoɴsᴛʀᴜᴄᴛɪoɴs, where in Lithuanian one finds (1) the standard language variant: accusative marked body-part and (2) the dialectal variant: nominative marked body-part. In this article, a clear distinction is made between ᴘᴀɪɴ-sᴘᴇᴄɪꜰɪᴄ vᴇʀʙs, verbs which originally denote pain like e.g. skaudėti, sopėti and ᴅᴇʀɪvᴇᴅ ᴘᴀɪɴ vᴇʀʙs, verbs borrowed from other semantic classes. This study focuses on the ᴘᴀɪɴ-sᴘᴇᴄɪꜰɪᴄ vᴇʀʙs. A study on the dialectal distribution of this variation and its occurrence in old texts is conducted with the aims: (1) to answer the question which construction is the older, (2) to give a clear picture of the dialectal and geographical distribution of this case variation and finally (3) to demonstrate that dialectal data can be used effectively and reliably to investigate diachronic processes and thus contribute to a deeper understanding of the relationship between synchronic variation and diachronic change. The results of the dialectal part of the study reveal that nominative marked body-parts are found in a much wider area than only in Northwestern Lithuania as has sometimes been claimed. They are prevalent in Northwestern Lithuania and also in Eastern Lithuania, but found in all regions and not dialectally restricted. Accusative marking is prevalent in South and West Aukštaitian, which might explain why accusative was selected as the standard form in the Lithuanian Standard Language. The findings in the old texts reveal that nominative is more prevalent in older texts, with only very few examples of accusative marking. This was noticeable in both religious texts from the 16th and 17th c. as well as in old dictionaries dating from before the 20th. c. The findings of this study provide evidence that nominative was the original case marking of body-parts with ᴘᴀɪɴ-sᴘᴇᴄɪꜰɪᴄ vᴇʀʙs.

"He spoke Yiddish like a Jew": Neighbors' Contribution to the Mass Killing of Jews in Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia, July 1941

The mass murder of Jews by the local population during Operation Barbarossa was as common in Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia as in eastern Poland, Lithuania, or Galicia. Residents in many localities in these areas seized the “window of opportunity” between the flight of the Soviet administration and the arrival of Romanian or German forces to murder Jews on their own initiative. Plundering was a key component of the pogroms that took place everywhere. The following illustrates the need for further consideration of the chronology and contexts of pogroms at the beginning of the war in the East.

Vetygala Exposure: the problem of the lower boundary of Pleistocene

The presented results of palaeomagnetic and lithological investigations of the Vetygala Exposure are one more attempt to solve the problem of the lower boundary of the Pleistocene in Eastern Lithuania. Five lithological complexes distinguished in the deposit sequence of the Vetygala Exposure of up to 22 metres height were studied by means of lithology and palaeomagnetism. Carbonate analysis undertaken showed that the amount of carbonates is increasing only in the uppermost part of outcrop, but some carbonate content in the lower part suggests that the sediments in the Vetygala Exposure could have formed at the beginning of the Pleistocene. Results of measurements of the magnetic susceptibility of sediments and the determination of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and remanent magnetisation for orientated samples from clayey silt interlayers demonstrate that changes of Earth’s magnetic field polarity were frequent during the sediments deposition and maintain about a relatively long period of sedimentation. The results of recent lithological and palaeomagnetic studies do not give a straight answer about the stratigraphical identity of investigated sediments. Thus, the stratigraphical subdivision of sediments in the Vetygala Exposure and their correlation with neighbouring geological sections are still open to variable interpretation.

The interdependence of mineral nitrogen content in different soil layers of Lithuanian agricultural lands

The aim of this work was to investigate the interdependence of mineral nitrogen (Nmin) content in 0–60 and 0–90 cm soil layers and in 0–30 cm soil layer in order to see whether it would be possible to predict the Nmin content in the deeper soil layers based on the Nmin content determined in 0–30 cm soil layer and thus to get a possibility to skip the soil sampling from the deeper layers of soil. The experiment was carried out in 2009–2012 in 156 monitoring plots of 20 × 20 m size located in 63 regions of lithuania characterized by the different prevailing soil types and the different soil texture: Eastern lithuania – Arenosols (AR) and Planosols (PL) – sand, Luvisols (LV) and Albeluvisols (AB) – sandy loam and light loam; Central lithuania – Cambisols (CM) and Luvisols – light loam, loam, medium loam, clay loam and clay; Western lithuania – Albeluvisols and Luvisols – sandy loam and light loam. The data obtained from the long-term fertilisation experiment conducted in Central lithuania on the light loam Cambisol were used in this study as well. Soil samples for the determination of Nmin content were taken from 0–30, 30–60 and 60–90 cm soil layers. Higher levels of Nmin were found in the soils of heavier texture as well as in the soils of plots treated once with Nmin fertiliser at the rates not lower than 90 kg ha-1. significant correlations were determined between the Nmin content in 0–60 or 0–90 cm soil layers and in 0–30 cm soil layer: in spring r2 = 0.837, P < 0.01 and r2 = 0.687, P < 0.01, respectively, in autumn r2 = 0.833, P < 0.01 and r2 = 0.723, P < 0.01, respectively. The ratios of Nmin content (as dependent on the Nmin content in 0–30 cm soil layer) in the 0–60 and 0–90 cm soil layers were calculated; when the content of Nmin in 0–30 cm soil layer increased from 6 to 12 mg kg -1, the 0–60 and 0–30 cm soil layer Nmin content ratio decreased from 0.85 ± 0.25 to 0.75 ± 0.13 in spring and from 0.87 ± 0.21 to 0.82 ± 0.17 in autumn. These ratios or regression equations can be used for the calculation of Nmin content in the deeper soil layers based on the available data on the Nmin content in 0–30 cm soil layer. Strong correlations were determined between the nitrate N and Nmin contents in 0–60 and 0–90 cm soil layers in spring and in autumn; the corresponding ratios were calculated. The content of nitrates in soil increases as the Nmin level in soil rises. key words: fertilisation, Nmin, N-NO3, sampling depth, soil.

Fieldwork Trip of the Museologists to Eastern Lithuania in the Summer of 1936

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Environment and agriculture of the transitional period from the Late Bronze to early Iron Age in the eastern Baltic: an archaeobotanical case study of the lakeshore settlement Luokesa 1, Lithuania

Prehistoric agriculture and vegetation in Lithuania have so far been reconstructed largely using palynological data. This paper reports the archaeobotanical investigation of macroremains from the Late Bronze-early Iron Age (LBA–EIA) lakeside settlement Luokesa 1 (L1) in eastern Lithuania, with the aim of elucidating the settlement’s history and crop diversity. The single phase settlement was fortified with an onshore palisade and is dated between 625 and 535 cal. bc. Samples were taken along a land to lake transect, and in the centre of L1. The stratigraphy consisted of three distinct layers: lake marl, cultural deposit and sandy limnic sediment on top. The plant spectrum shows that L1 was constructed on an exposed morainic shoal. It was surrounded by woodland, meadows, fields/gardens, ruderal habitats and riverine vegetation. Accumulated cultural deposits consisted mainly of manure (litter, fodder and dung of sheep/goat), with rubbish, sweepings from the houses or remains of the on-site vegetation. The crops were Panicum miliaceum, Triticum spelta, T. dicoccon, Hordeum vulgare s.l., Pisum sativum and Camelina sativa, the latter being the first prehistoric evidence in Lithuania. The trophic state of the lake increased during the occupation period. After the abandonment of the settlement the ruins decayed until the lake flooded the site. The results are discussed in a broader context of the LBA/EIA cultures in northern Central Europe.

Isotope geochemistry and modelling of the multi-aquifer system in the eastern part of Lithuania

A steady-state groundwater flow model of three Quaternary intertill aquifers in the eastern part of Lithuania has been compiled. The distinction of separate modelled layers is based on hydraulic and isotope-hydrochemistry data criteria. 3H data were used to estimate the corrected groundwater age and were coupled with a groundwater-flow-dynamics model of the Quaternary aquifer system along a cross-section flow pathway from the Baltic Upland recharge area in eastern Lithuania towards the discharge area in the lowlands near the city of Kaunas in central Lithuania. The bicarbonate content in groundwater (214–462 mg/l) increases downgradient towards the lowland area. The other major constituents and total dissolved solids (TDS) have a trend analogous to the bicarbonate. The 14C activity of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in the groundwater ranges from 41.4 to 85.7 pMC. With aquifer-system depth, active precipitation of aqueous solution takes place by dissolving minerals of calcite and dolomite and leakage of “old” groundwater from lower aquifers; the process is also traced by lower 14C and 3H activities and by more positive δ18O values in lowland areas.

Upper Wenlock δ13C chemostratigraphy, conodont biostratigraphy and palaeoecological dynamics in the Ledai-179 drill core (Eastern Lithuania); pp. 293–299

Based on the integrated chemostratigraphic and lithostratigraphic studies, as well as biostratigraphic and palaeo- ecological analyses of conodonts in the Ledai-179 core, we present a combined model of change in the upper Wenlock and lowermost Ludlow strata of the inner shelf settings in the eastern part of the Baltic Basin. The comparison of the δ 13 C trend, and conodont and lithological successions confirms previous suggestions that the Birstonas and Nevėžis formations correspond to the Homerian. This is quite unexpected, however, that the chronostratigraphic position of the Sirvinta Formation changed from the Gorstian to the upper part of the Homerian. The numerical biostratigraphic changepoint analyses of local conodont richness, per capita immigration and also per capita extirpation rates revealed several episodes of permanent change. These episodes of dynamic states either preceded or postdated the Mulde extinction interval at the beginning of the late Homerian δ 13 C excursion,

Holocene sediment record from Briaunis palaeolake, Eastern Lithuania: history of sedimentary environment and vegetation dynamics

This paper presents new data describing the Holocene environmental history of the Briaunis palaeolake, Eastern Lithuania. Shortly before 9600 cal yr BP, sedimentation began in an oligotrophic deep-water basin, whereas the Early Holocene instability of the environmental regime caused the influx of detrital sediment into the basin. A birch forest dominated in the surrounding landscapes, and at ca. 9600 cal yr BP, the spread of Ulmus, Alnus, Populus and Corylus began, suggesting a short-lived climatic amelioration. A subsequent drop of the water table and increasing influx of the terrigenous material continued from 9600 to 9300–9200 cal yr BP. The ensuing climatic stability caused the formation of a deciduous forest and the regional spread of Picea. Some instability, i.e. a decline in the thermophilous species, as well as the appearance of boreal and northern alpine diatoms, could be associated with the so-called “8.2 ka event”. This reversal was followed by amelioration and prospering of the water plants typical of the Holocene climatic optimum from 7900 to 7200–7100 cal yr BP. At aproximatelly 6600–6500 cal yr BP, a small rise of the water table was documented and bog-forming processes dominated until ca. 3600–3400 cal yr BP, when a small-scale deepening of the basin occured.

The Domestic Politics of Protecting Human Rights in Counter-Terrorism

Three countries in Eastern Europe, Poland, Lithuania, and Romania, hosted secret detention sites for the benefit of the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA’s) interrogation program from about 2002 to 2006. All three countries initially denied with indignation these allegations. In the past five years, Poland moved toward prosecution as a result of a Supreme Court decision ordering declassification of documents, which resulted since 2008 in an ongoing prosecutorial investigation likely to indict the former Interior Minister and possibly others. While Lithuania’s parliament identified plans for a site, it claimed to not know whether it was used, and prosecution was aborted. Romania’s secret prison became the host not only to second-tier, high-value detainees of the CIA, but after Poland shut down its site, to the most dangerous detainees, who were tortured in the basement of the National Security Archives Building in Bucharest. Romania’s three governmental branches continue to deny that it ever collaborated with the CIA or that such a site even existed. This essay analyzes this variation in the domestic responses of these three countries, as well as other CIA collaborations with Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia. It argues that international pressure was a necessary condition for domestic political processes, especially in the legislative and judicial branches supervising executive actions. However, the strength of the latter two branches, along with the type of political class and civil society, will explain the strongest reform process in Poland, the medium-range response in Lithuania, and the nonresponse of denial by Romania.

Macromycetes and myxomycetes of Asveja Regional park (Lithuania)

Abstract The paper provides data on macromycete and myxomycete species diversity and distribution in Asveja Regional Park located in eastern Lithuania. A total of 326 species of macromycetes and 33 species and intraspecific taxa of myxomycetes were recorded. Five species, Eocronartium muscicola, Mycena megaspora, Neobulgaria pura, Pachyella violaceonigra and Skeletocutis papyracea, were reported for the first time in Lithuania. Twenty species listed in the Red Data Book of Lithuania were recorded during this study. Distribution and habitats of rare and endangered fungus and myxomycete species are discussed

Predicting tree crown defoliation using color-infrared orthophoto maps

Orthophoto maps based on color-infrared aerial photography have been used by the Lithuanian forest inventory since 2001. This study aimed to investigate the opportunities for using these orthophoto maps to predict tree crown defoliation at the single tree and sample plot levels. The test area was located in the Aukstaitija National Park, eastern Lithuania, and it was photographed in the summer of 2008 using a Vexcel UltraCam D digital frame aerial camera to produce digital orthophoto maps with a 0.5 x 0.5 m ground sampling density. Some 1721 tree crowns (mainly pine, spruce and birch), located in 166 permanent sample plots, were identified and delineated on the orthophoto maps. Crown defoliation and other dendrometric characteristics were field-estimated for all of these trees in summer 2008. Judgments on the suitability of using color-infrared aerial photography based orthophotos to estimate tree crown defoliation were based on the accuracy of the defoliation prediction. Defoliation for each crown was predicted using the non-parametric k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) method and characteristics extracted from the digital orthophoto maps as the auxiliary variables for prediction. Prediction accuracies were validated using the “Leave One Out” technique by comparing the predicted data with data from field-assessed crown defoliations. The lowest root mean square errors for the predicted tree crown defoliation values were 7.564 for pine trees, 9.166 for spruce and 7.712 for birch and the highest coefficients of correlation between field-estimated and predicted crown defoliations were 0.576, 0.600 and 0.386, respectively. However, there was no best performing solution for using the k-NN prediction found, as the best results were achieved using different approaches. Next, predicted and field estimated tree crown defoliation values were aggregated up to the sample plot level by taking an averaging of trees in the same sample plot. The root mean square error at the sample plot level was around 3.7 %, the bias was statistically not significant and the correlation coefficients between plot-wise average values of field-estimated and predicted defoliations were around 0.8. The achieved results suggested that color-infrared orthophoto maps could be a potential data source of forest health characteristics for use in stand-wise forest inventories.

A lysimeter study of organic carbon leaching from green manure and straw into a sandy loam Haplic Luvisol

Lysimeter experiments (2002–2008) were conducted at the Vokė Branch of the Lithuanian Institute of Agriculture (currently – Lithuanian Research Centre of Agriculture and Forestry) to study the effects of green manure and straw on total organic carbon (TOC) leaching from a sandy loam Haplic Luvisol (LVh) in Eastern Lithuania. The replicated treatments were: i) control (without added organic matter), ii) straw + N 30 , iii) post-crop fodder radish (Raphanus sativus L.) + N 30 , and iv) undersown red clover (Trifolium pratense L.). In all treatments, except for the control, barley straw was left on the soil after harvesting. Leaching of organic compounds were measured in the years of green manure (2002, 2004, 2006) and straw incorporation and repeated the following years (2003, 2005, 2007). Analysis of lysimeter water showed TOC leaching losses were low and depending on annual meteorological conditions and experimental treatments varied from 1.97 to 14.92 kg ha -1 organic carbon (OC) per year. Incorporation of catch crops’ (fodder radish, red clover) biomass and straw did not increase TOC leaching. In treatments grown with undersown red clover, infiltration decreased by 38.7% in summer and by 16.5% in autumn, whereas fodder radish sown in late August reduced infiltration by 25.3%. Due to low infiltration, soil organic carbon (SOC) leaching losses after green manure incorporation were less than in the treatments with only incorporated straw or barley stubble. Cultivation of catch crops (fodder radish, red clover) reduced infiltration during autumn, which decreased TOC leaching by 19.8–21.7%. Therefore, it is concluded that the application of straw and green manure on a sandy loam Haplic Luvisol does not increase organic carbon leaching below the rhizosphere and does not have negative effects on surface water quality.

Factors affecting seasonal and spatial patterns of water quality in Lithuanian rivers

In this study the main processes influencing water quality of the Lithuanian rivers have been identified. Factor analysis was tested on river hydrochemical data from 108 sites for the period of 1999–2004. It enabled the identification of main factors determining water quality each season. As a result, monitoring stations were grouped into clusters each representing the influence of relevant factor. The tested multivariate statistical procedures can be applied in practice when the reasons for water quality impairments are to be investigated. The findings reveal that Wastewater factor is prominent in small rivers downstream larger towns; Agro-geological factor – in Northern Lithuania's rivers of heavy carbonated soils and intensive agriculture lands as well as in South eastern Lithuania's rivers of more acidic soils; Hardly degradable organics factor – in Northern and Middle Lithuania's rivers of heavy-textured and fertile agricultural soils. The photosynthesis-vegetation and Aeration factors are predominant in major rivers. First published online:&nbsp;14 Dec 2012

Lichens, Lichenicolous and Allied Fungi Found in Asveja Regional Park (Lithuania)

Abstract Motiejūnaitė J., Berglund T., Czarnota P., Himelbrant D., Högnabba F., Konoreva L. A., Korchikov E. S., Kubiak D., Kukwa M., Kuznetsova E., Leppik E., Lõhmus P., Prigodina Lukošienė I., Pykälä J., Stončius D., Stepanchikova I., Suija A., Thell A., Tsurykau A., Westberg M., 2012: Lichens, lichenicolous and allied fungi found in Asveja Regional Park (Lithuania) [Kerpės, lichenofiliniai ir kerpėms artimi saprotrofiniai grybai Asvejos regioniniame parke]. - Bot. Lith., 18(2): 85-100. The paper reports the results of lichenological investigations in Asveja Regional Park (eastern Lithuania). A large part of the study was performed during the joint 18th Symposium of the Baltic Mycologists and Lichenologists (BMLS) and Nordic Lichen Society (Nordisk Lichenologisk Förening, NLF) meeting on 19-23 September 2011. A list of 259 species is presented. Of these, 30 species are new to Lithuania. Arthonia helvola, Bacidina sulphurella, Candelariella lutella, Catillaria croatica, Cladonia conista, Gyalecta derivata, Lecanoraquercicola, Leptosphaeria ramalinae, Strigula jamesii, Trichonectria rubefaciens, Verrucaria banatica, V. boblensis, V. christiansenii, V. illinoisensis, V. inornata, V. nigrofusca, V. trabicola, Zwackhiomyces diederichii were recorded for the first time in the Baltic countries. New lichens to Lithuania are as follows: Bacidiaincompta, Caloplaca crenulatella, C. pyracea, Catinaria atropurpurea, Lecanora populicola, L. semipallida, Mycobilimbia epixanthoides, Ramalina dilacerata, Verrucaria inaspecta, and new lichenicolous fungi are: Cladosporium licheniphilum, Stigmidium microspilum, Xenonectriella leptalea. Eighteen species included in the Lithuanian Red Data Book were recorded, which is the highest number known for any studied area in Lithuania.

Ascomycete species new to Lithuania

Abstract Iznova T., Rukšėnienė J., 2012: ascomycete species new to Lithuania [Naujos aukšliagrybių rūšys Lietuvoje]. - Bot. Lith., 18(1): 35-39. In this paper three ascomycete species, Capronia nigerrima, Kalmusia clivensis and Sillia ferruginea, are reported for the first time in Lithuania. The fungi were found on old stromata of pyrenomycetes, bark of dead branch of Corylus avellana and dead stems of Rubus idaeus in the alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa of the southern, northeastern and eastern Lithuania. Morphological descriptions, comments and illustrations of the species are presented.

Life stories as testament and memorial: the short life of the Neqama Battalion, an independent Jewish partisan unit operating during the Second World War in the Narocz forest, Belarus

By late 1942, as the ghettos in eastern Poland, Belarus and Lithuania were being gradually annihilated, large numbers of Jews began escaping into the woods. These were, generally, young men and women, some of them members of the ghetto underground movements, who sought to take part in the fighting against the Germans and regarded the woods as a path to potential survival. Jewish candidates wishing to join a partisan combat unit were required to prove themselves in battle, battle readiness and volunteering, in addition to the uniquely Jewish missions of revenge and survival. Out of this combination was born the Jewish partisans' wish to form independent Jewish units that would take revenge on the Germans and save Jews incarcerated in camps and ghettos. This paper will study the history of the Revenge (Neqama) Battalion – an independent Jewish partisan battalion that was formed in the Narocz woods in Belarus in July 1943. It will also address the question of whether an independent Jewish battalion could exist at all within the Soviet partisan forces. The paper employs historical perspectives when describing the daily life of the Jewish partisans in the woods, and relies on life stories, testimonies and memoirs of surviving Jewish partisans from the Narocz woods.

Lietuvių gimininės pravardės

LITHUANIAN NICKNAMES REFERRED TO A PERSON’S KINSHIPSummaryIn this paper a synchronical approach of the modern Lithuanian nicknames referred to a per­son’s kinship or dependence on the particular family is given. There exist about 18.4% of such nick­names.Most of them (93%) are patronymic names. They have a status of nicknames since they are unofficial names and point to a man’s kinship, whereas the other nicknames point to other features. Moreover, they entirely displace a person’s real name and become the only name by which he is known. The patronymic names as nicknames dominate in Dzūkija (Southern Lithuania) and Aukštaitija (Eastern Lithuania). From the structural point of view they are of four different kinds: (a) derivatives (68.8%), e. g. Adomiõkas (: Adomas), Kãsčius (:Kastas, Konstantinas); (b) primary words, i. e. unchanged fathers’ names (24.1%); (c) composites (6.8%): Jõno Pẽtras (Peter of John); (d) compound words (0.6%): Jùrgpetris (Georgepeter, i. e. Peter of George).More frequently the derivatives are produced by suffixation. The suffixes -(‘)ukas and -(‘)okas are used very often. The suffix-(‘)ukas is widespread throughout Lithuania, the -(‘)okas dominates in Aukštaitija. Other suffixes (-ėnas, -elis / -ėlis, -ynas, -utis,-(’) ulis, -iškis, -aitis) are met rather rarely. We have registered 87 suffixes of sons’ nicknames, only 11 suffixes of these, however, are used for the composing of nicknames which number more than 1%.A small part of the nicknames is related with marriage. If one is married into a farm to a daugh­ter or a widow, he receives the nickname pointed to this status. 70% of such nicknames coincide with the wife’s or father-in-law’s name, i. e. with the name of the farm’s master. Wives always have names derived from their husbands’ names, also in the case of a husband married into a farm.

Exotic Lands, Quixotic Friends: Eastern Lithuania and the Carpathian Basin in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (AD c 380 to c 620

Little is Currently known about contacts between eastern Lithuania and the Middle Danube region between c 380 and c 620. The evidence that exists has often been interpreted in terms of a migration from the Carpathian Basin into the area of the North European Plains between the Upper Nemunas (Niemen) and the middle course of the Western Dvina. The old interpretation pertaining to the so-called Migration Period in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia needs drastic revision in light of the new archaeological evidence from recent excavations of burial mounds in eastern Lithuania, primarily artefacts (fibulae and buckles) most likely produced in the Middle Danube region. Our main argument is that, instead of a migration from the Carpathian Basin (or alternatively from the north-eastern area of present-day Poland), as commonly assumed by Lithuanian archaeologists, the evidence from excavated barrows in eastern Lithuania points to an intensive contact — most likely a gift-giving sequence — with communities in the Middle Danube region within a relatively short period of time following the demise of the Hunnic polity in the aftermath of the battle on the Nedao River (AD 454). We offer an explanation for this phenomenon, which, at the same time, is an alternative to the idea of a return migration from the Carpathian Basin (mainly of Baltic mercenaries in the service of the [defeated] Huns).

RADIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF RED FOX (VULPES VULPES) IN LITHUANIA / RUDŲJŲ LAPIŲ (VULPES VULPES) RADIOLOGINIAI TYRIMAI LIETUVOJE / РАДИОЛОГИЧЕСКОЕ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ РЫЖЕЙ ЛИСЫ (VULPES VULPES) В ЛИТВЕ

The paper presents 40K and 137Cs activity concentrations in muscle, bones and liver of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) from eastern and northern Lithuania. The short description of the applied radiochemical method is given. Activity concentrations of 40K in muscle ranges between 46.06 ± 0.43 and 110.92 ± 4.5 Bq kg−1 (fw = fresh weight). Average content of radioactive Cs in muscle is on the level of 5.78 ± 0.29 Bq kg−1. No clear relationship observed among the radionuclide concentrations in liver. The analyzed test samples do not show elevated contamination levels when compared with results of bones of small animals (rodents or insectivorous mammals) determined previously, so no accumulation ofbone seeking isotopes on higher step of the trophic chain concluded. Santrauka Įvertintos 40K ir 137Cs aktyvumo koncentracijos, nustatytos rudųjų lapių (Vulpes vulpes) iš Rytų ir Šiaurės Lietuvos raumenyse, kauluose ir kepenyse. 40K koncentracijos raumenyse svyravo nuo 46,06 ± 0,43 iki 110,92 ± 4,5 Bq·kg–1 (FW = gyvojo svorio). 137Cs savitojo aktyvumo vidutinis lygis raumenyse siekė 5,78 ± 0,29 Bq kg–1(FW). Akivaizdžiõs priklausomybės tarp 40K ir 137Cs radionuklidų koncentracijų kepenyse nepastebėta. Mėginių analizės rezultatus palyginus su kitų autorių gautais mažų gyvūnų (graužikų ir vabzdžiaėdžių žinduolių) kaulų užtaršos duomenimis, užtaršos lygiai nebuvo dideli, todėl šioje tyrimų stadijoje išvadas apie radionuklidų izotopų kaupimosi dėsningumus viršutinėje mitybos grandinės pakopoje sunku daryti. Remiantis tyrimo duomenimis, galima teigti, kad 137Cs savitieji aktyvumai, nustatyti rudųjųlapių raumenyse, gali būti prognozuojami pagal 40K aktyvumus. Резюме Оценена активность и концентрация 40Kи 137Cs в мышцах, костях и печени рыжей лисы (Vulpes vulpes) ввосточной и северной частях Литвы. Представлено краткое описание применяемого радиохимического метода.Установлено, что концентрации 40K в мышцах колеблются от 46,06 ± 0,43 до 110,92 ± 4,5 Бк кг1 (FW = живого веса). Средние результаты 137Cs для мышц находятся на уровне 5,78 ± 0,29 (FW). Отсутствие четкой взаимосвязимежду концентрациями радионуклидов наблюдалось в печени. Результаты исследования не выявилиповышенного уровня загрязнения по сравнению с результатами анализа костей мелких животных (грызунов инасекомоядных млекопитающих), проведенного другими авторами, поэтому сделать заключение о накопленииизотопов костной массой на высшей ступени пищевой цепи не представляется возможным.