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 observations conducted in 2007 on the western coast of the Vaigach Island. M.V. Gavrilo (the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, St. Petersburg) presents results of the IPY project devoted to the study of the fauna and population of birds from some high-latitude islands of the Western Arctic. M.G. Golovatin (the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology of the Ural Branch of RAS, Yekaterinburg) gives preliminary results of the analysis of the long-term avifauna dynamics in the north of the Western Siberia. New data on the bird faua of the Gydan peninsula northern part are given in the paper of A.E. Dmitriev (Institute of Geography RAS) and V.S. Zhukov (Institute of Animal Systematics and Ecology, Siberian Branch of RAS, Novosibirsk). The latest data on the dynamics of habitat, abundance and species diversity of the arctic sandpiper is presented in the fundamental work by P.S. Tomkovich (the Zoological Museum of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow StateUniversity, Moscow), E.G. Lappo (the Institute of Geography RAS) and E.E. Syroechkovsky-Jr. (the Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS).
An article by V.K. Zhirov and O.B. Gontar (the Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden-Institute, Kirovsk, Murmansk region) is devoted to plant adaptation to conditions of high latitudes. It presents the original principles of classification of introduced plants, which is important for understanding of processes of the climatic change impact on the flora and vegetation of the Arctic. A team under the leadership of D.A. Gilichinsky from Institute of Physical Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science RAS, Institute of Geography RAS and the Institute for Biology of Inland Waters RAS summarized initial results of studies on microbial communities and protistofauna from permafrost soils in Russia.
We are optimistic about soon appearance of new monographic publications based on the results of studies of terrestrial and marine ecosystems within the Third IPY projects. This book is just the beginning. One may express sincere gratitude to Yu.I. Ivakina, I.S. Yantarova and A.V. Dyakonova (MMBI) for assistance in preparing materials for publishing.
Академик Г.Г. Матишов, Д.Г. Ишкулов
Экспедиционные исследования Мурманского морского биологического института КНЦ РАН, проведенные в рамках Международного полярного года 2007/08
Мурманский морской биологический институт КНЦ РАН, г. Мурманск
Аннотация
В статье представлен обзор основных экспедиционных программ, выполненных Мурманским морским биологическим институтом КНЦ РАН в рамках Международного полярного года. Приведены маршруты экспедиций и перечень выполненных в ходе экспедиций научных работ. Рассмотрены результаты экспедиций на атомных ледоколах по трассе Севморпути, на НИС «Дальние Зеленцы» и на архипелаге Шпицберген.
Введение
Комплексные исследования российских арктических морей в настоящее время приобретают все более важное значение. Приоритетность экспедиционных работ в этом регионе обусловлена как экономическими интересами России в арктических морях, так и необходимостью получения новых данных для разработок, связанных с моделированием последствий глобальных климатических изменений. Кроме того, проведенный по инициативе Российской Федерации Международный полярный год 2007/08 особо акцентировал необходимость российского научного присутствия в высокоширотной Арктике.
Мурманский морской биологический институт Кольского научного центра РАН является единственной академической научной организацией, базирующейся непосредственно на побережье Баренцева моря. Благодаря наличию оборудованных научно-исследовательских судов, налаженным связям с Мурманских морским пароходством и ФГУП «Атомфлот», а также развитой системе береговых и островных научных стационаров, ММБИ в рамках Международного полярного года выполнил более 20 морских и береговых экспедиций (рис. 1).
Рис. 1. Экспедиции ММБИ, проведенные в рамках Международного полярного года в 2007–2008 гг.
В данной статье мы рассмотрим краткие итоги основных экспедиций Института. Следует отметить, что материалы именно этих экспедиций легли в основу подготовки практически всех глав этой монографии, принадлежащих сотрудникам ММБИ.