40 years of observations of the biota of the Chernobyl zone

The results of 40 years research of the radiobiological effects in plants and animals inhabiting areas contaminated by radionuclides as a result of the Chernobyl NPP accident have been summarized. Long-term radioecological studies under conditions of widespread and uneven radioactive contami-nation resulting from the largest accident in the history of nuclear power have yielded unique infor-mation about the responses of living nature at various levels of biological organization–from the mo-lecular and cellular to the ecosystemic. Unique ecosystems, developed under chronic radiation ex-posure, are developing in areas contaminated by radionuclides in the absence of humans. The 30-km zone of the Chernobyl NPP has become a unique testing ground for studying, under natural conditions, the long-term ecological and biological consequences of abrupt changes in a complex of environmental factors, as well as the direction and intensity of selection.