RESULTS
Regrowth of the Land Plants
at Belle
Island
The gamma survey~-meter readings taken at Belle Island
during the period of investigation are given in Table 1 and
in Figure 3, which includes the theoretical gamma dose rate
according to Miller and Loeb (17) ana the slope for evi. 2,
The accumulated total dose from one minute after the detonation to the end of 200
days was calculated to be approxi-
mately 400 r.
Before the Nectar detonation,
the plants on Belle Island
were generally green and healthy-looking.
general area taken at this time
appearance of the vegetation.
ing of the leaves and necrosis,
Guettarda,
(Fig.
4a)
shows the
healthy
In some plants there was yellow-
especially in Scaevola and
and some reddening of the tops
Lepturus repens.
A photograph of the
of the grass,
The latter symptom is typical of some species
of plants growing in phosphorus-deficient soil,
a condition
often found on coral atolls and in areas where the top soil has
been disturbed or blown away.
The Mike detonation of 1952 had
removed most of the plants and top soil from Belle Island,
re-
sulting in the depletion of some of the elements essential for
plant growth.
In spite of these deficiencies regrowth of the