Areas of Intensive Nature Management in the Russian Arctic under Climate Change Conditions: Natural and Social Processes in the Long Term

The work summarizes the results of investigations carried out in three directions (blocks). Block 1. Terrestrial ecosystems in areas of intensive nature management are investigated. Climatic changes and anthropogenic impact result in transformation of landscapes with disturbed or completely destroyed vegetation cover. In freshwater ecosystems cardinal changes in the structural and functional organization from the multifac- torial anthropogenic load against the background of a warming climate were revealed. We obtained unique data on the long-term dynamics of biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. Block 2. Enrichment tailings properties were studied, the influence of the dusting season duration and humidity changes on the gross dust emission was assessed; interaction of tailings with soil waters was studied. The potential ecological danger of tailings mineral particles getting into the soil was shown. The losses of non-ferrous metals during the period of waste storage under different climate change scenarios were estimated. Block 3. People’s perceptions of climate change and its social consequences have been studied. The problem of climate change clearly correlates with ecological problems. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Arctic in the context of climate change was studied. The pandemic highlighted the unsustainability of the rotational method of resource development, with rotational camps becoming focal points of epidemiological hazards.