> "But what we're finding is that there is a significant impact on both the population and the biodiversity - the number of species - in the zone. And it's directly proportional to the level of contamination."
> But this is one side of a polarised scientific debate.
> According to researchers working in the exclusion zone surrounding Chernobyl, there is a "strong signal of decline [of insects] associated with the contamination".
> The team found that bumblebees, butterflies, grasshoppers, dragonflies and spiders were affected.
Here are some BBC reports. The BBC sometimes mangles science reporting. I'd be interested to read more modern articles.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6946210.stm
> Recent studies said rare species had thrived despite raised radiation levels as a result of no human activity.
> But scientists who assessed the 1986 disaster's impact on birds said the ecological effects were "considerably greater than previously assumed".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14250489
> "But what we're finding is that there is a significant impact on both the population and the biodiversity - the number of species - in the zone. And it's directly proportional to the level of contamination."
> But this is one side of a polarised scientific debate.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9387000/938...
> Birds living around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear accident have 5% smaller brains, an effect directly linked to lingering background radiation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7949314.stm
> According to researchers working in the exclusion zone surrounding Chernobyl, there is a "strong signal of decline [of insects] associated with the contamination".
> The team found that bumblebees, butterflies, grasshoppers, dragonflies and spiders were affected.