“Greening” of the Russian Arctic and the Modern Trends of Transformation of Its Biota

Abstract

An overview assessments of landscape changes in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF) and their influence on the productivity of vegetation cover were conducted in 2014–2015 with the use of remote methods (remote sensing) and field studies. Multi-scale, multi-temporal and multi-directional transformations of vegetation cover in terms of the synergism of influence of changing climate and economic activities were identified. It is shown that at the present stage the processes of growth of productivity (“greening”), which is regarded as the effect of the conjugate action of climate warming and economic development, and its reduction due to focal and frontal anthropogenic disturbances of soil and vegetation cover take place simultaneously. According to the synthesis of results of field observations, the direct and indirect influence of tundra greening on the number, distribution and migration of the mammals and birds of the Arctic is revealed. The conclusion about the irreversibility of some changes and about the directional growth of areas with a destabilized state of the biota was made.