There is substantial interest in understanding the ecological impacts of the nuclear accidents at the Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants. However, population‐level data for large mammals have been limited, and there remains much speculation regarding the status of wildlife species in these areas. Using a network of remote cameras placed along a gradient of radiological contamination and human presence, we collected data on population‐level impacts to wildlife (that is, abundance and occupancy patterns) following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. We found no evidence of population‐level impacts in mid‐ to large‐sized mammals or gallinaceous birds, and show several species were most abundant in human‐evacuated areas, despite the presence of radiological contamination. These data provide unique evidence of the natural rewilding of the Fukushima landscape following human abandonment, and suggest that if any effects of radiological exposure in mid‐ to large‐sized mammals in the Fukushima Exclusion Zone exist, they occur at individual or molecular scales, and do not appear to manifest in population‐level responses.

中文翻译：

---

福岛的人员疏散区野外重生

切尔诺贝利核电站和福岛第一核电站的核事故对生态的影响引起了极大的兴趣。但是，大型哺乳动物的种群水平数据有限，关于这些地区野生动植物物种状况的猜测仍然很多。使用沿放射污染和人类存在的梯度放置的远程摄像机网络，我们收集了2011年福岛第一核电站核事故对野生生物的人口水平影响（即丰度和居住方式）的数据。我们没有发现对大中型哺乳动物或鸡类鸟类造成种群水平影响的证据，尽管存在放射性污染，但仍显示在人类疏散区域中有几种物种最丰富。