the estimation of the current natural and anthropogenic climate and environmental fluctuations.
The most frequent objects of biogeographic research within projects of international and national IPY programs were representatives of the marine biota, which is impacted by climate fluctuations and increasing economic activity in polar regions.
We should emphasize that the study of the Arctic marine biota, its diversity and response to external stimuli requires a significant field and analytical work. In this regard it’s necessary to note a major contribution to the IPY polar research of experts from the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute KSC RAS, who widely cover the western part of the Arctic which is the most exposed to current global changes.
It’s known that in the international IPY scientific program a number of properly Russian initiative projects is small. The so-called «clusters» of researchers from different countries and organizations related to marine and terrestrial ecosystems and biota, where Russia could be the leader are practically absent. Projects on research of glaciers, sea ice, atmosphere and oceans by Roshydromet, primarily AARI, the Institute of Geography RAS dominate here. Among the IPY international «clusters» the following projects are close to issues of the study of arctic ecosystems and biodiversity: 2 – Zoological Institute RAS, 1 – Institute of Oceanology RAS, 2 – Institute of Geography RAS (T.K. Vlasova – the Circumpolar monitoring of indigenous peoples, and S.V. Goryachkina – the study of soils from polar latitudes, or cryosoils). The relatively complete data on IPY biological projects is available on the web site of the Zoological Institute RAS:
http://www.zin.ru/projects/RCBD_ZIN/bio_proj.html
Nevertheless, Russia is widely represented exactly in the IPY International Programme. First of all, about 400 Russian scientists were invited to the IPY cluster projects, including about half of RAS and Hydromet institutions. Russian specialists are involved in all projects relating to investigations of the reaction of the circumpolar terrestrial biota and ecosystems to climate fluctuations in the Arctic, population dynamics and population composition of sea birds, semi-aquatic birds, waterfowls, wild reindeer, polar bears, pinnipeds and cetaceans, the pan-Arctic flora and vegetation and functioning of ecosystems in conditions of global warming, etc. As an example, we can name some large international IPY «clusters» devoted to the study of terrestrial and marine biota, were Russian specialists are involved (Table 2).
Table 2. Some large international projects of the IPY program 2007–2008
Internet addresses allow all people who wish to familiarize themselves with preliminary results of these projects. Moreover, the «biological component» is relatively well represented in some projects on social issues. For example, the data on the terrestrial and marine biota is found in «clusters» of the international IPY program: # 21 Environmental change of the Beringian Arctic; # 46 Traditional land use in the Nenets AO (MODIL-NAO); # 151 Network of the social monitoring (PPS Arctic); # 162 Circum-arctic reindeer monitoring (CARMA); # 183 Community resilience and diversity; # 247 Bering sea sub-network (BSSN); # 310 Gas, arctic people and security (GAPS); # 335 Land rights and resources; # 408 Reindeer herders vulnerability (EALAT), etc. Preliminary results of some «social» IPY projects are announced in a special issue of the «Environmental Planning and Management» journal (№№ 3–4, 2008). Members of these projects are among the authors of this volume as well.
The volume starts with review articles covering results of researches conducted by institutions participating in IPY programs and acute issues of studies on arctic ecosystems. The article by G.G. Matishov and D.G. Ishkulov (the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute KSC RAS) demonstrates a multidisciplinary scientific and expeditionary activity of the Institute, which includes comprehensive monitoring of marine ecosystems in the Western Arctic on research vessels, oceanographic and hydrobiological observations on nuclear icebreakers along the Northern Sea Route, on-shore expeditions and stationary surveys. Works of the Zoological Institute (B.I. Sirenko, S. Yu. Gagaev) included studies of the benthic fauna of the Chukchi Sea and waters bounding the Antarctic.
Current views on the resource potential of the marine biota and its sensitivity to anthropogenic impact are based on the theory of large marine ecosystems (LME). Principles of the analysis of LME in the Arctic and a summary data on their current state are presented in the article by G.G. Matishov et al.
I.A. Melnikov and R.M. Gogorev (the Institute of Oceanology RAS, the Botanical Institute RAS) consider current processes in the ecosystem of the sea ice of the central Arctic basin and assess the possibility of its transition to conditions of the seasonal development. An article by A.V. Dolgov et al. presents results of studies of the Kara Sea fish fauna conducted by the Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography.
A long-range transport of pollutants in the atmosphere and river waters takes a special place among sources of anthropogenic impact on both marine and terrestrial ecosystems in the Arctic. An article by A.A. Vinogradova (the Institute of Atmospheric Physics RAS) covers the impact of major Russian industrial regions on the environment of the Arctic and Siberia.
P.R. Makarevich and D.G. Ishkulov (MMBI) consider the impact of regional climatic factors on the intra-, inter-annual and long-term variability of zooplankton communities, marine fish and benthos in the Barents Sea. The seasonal development of phytoplankton in waters of Franz Victoria trough and adjoining water areas of the Franz Josef Land archipelago is described in the article by A.A. Oleynik (MMBI). A team of specialists from the MMBI (E.A. Frolova, O.S. Lyubina et al.) conducted the study of benthic communities near coasts of the Spitsbergen, the Franz Josef Land and the Novaya Zemlya and submitted a large body of the initial data.
Two articles by S.E. Belikov (the Research Institute for Environmental Protection, Moscow region), the recognized leader in research of Arctic mammals, are devoted to results of the study of changes in population and habitat of polar bears and marine mammals of the Russian Arctic under the impact of anthropogenic and natural factors. The all year round population nonitoring accomplished by expedition groups onboard atomic icebreakers on the Northern Sea Route has become an important methodical innovation in the Arctic fauna researches. Methods and results of the polare bear researches performed in the MMBI expeditions are represented in the paper of G.G. Matishov, A.A. Kondakov and N.N. Kavtsevich.
L.A. Kolpashchikov (the Extreme North Agricultural Research Institute, Noril’sk) has been studying the unique world’s largest Taimyr population of the wild reindeer on the Taimyr Peninsula during almost 40 years. In the joint article with V.V. Mikhaylov (Institute of Automatics and Informatization, St-Petersburg) he describes the current population state, its spatial distribution, peculiarities of the population dynamics and migration, which have significantly changed over the past decade in connection with the increased economic activity on the peninsula and climate changes.
It is known that one of the longest series of long-term study of population dynamics of the Norwegian lemming is available in the Lapland reserve on the Kola Peninsula. Its scientific employee G.E. Kataev has continued the research of the population dynamics of Norwegian lemmings, started here by A.A. Nasimovich, G.A. Novikov, O.I. Semenov-Tian-Shansky, T.V. Koshkina etc. in 1930 and then compiled them. The article is of a great interest to predict the dynamics of this rodent species and to define trends in a changing climate.
Articles on ornithology are well represented in this collection what is typical for biogeographical and zoological collections on the research of the Russian Arctic. An article by Yu.V. Krasnov (the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute KSC RAS) summarizes preliminary results of ornithological
