RESUMO

The publication is dealt with the study of biodiversity of the near-bottom zooplankton of the shallow water zone of the Kiev reservoir. The peculiarities of its composition, development, and structure were studied both in the thickets of higher aquatic plants and in the sections free of vegetation prior to the accident at the Chernobyl NPS and after it. It has been found that the near-bottom zooplankton of the shallow water zone essentially differed from that occurring in the deep water zone and in the surface layer of water of the littoral and pelagic zones. The obtained results made it possible to conclude that the accident at the Chernobyl NPS did not exert an adverse effect on the community of zooplankton because the intensity of radiation was not higher than its threshold degree, whereas zooplankton organisms are extremely tolerant to the influence of radiation.