Land use and land cover change in Arctic Russia: Ecological and social implications of industrial development

• Published in: Global environmental change 2011-05, Vol.21 (2), p.550-562
• Main Authors: Kumpula, Timo, Pajunen, Anu, Kaarlejaervi, Elina, bes, Bruce C, Stammler, Florian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Ecology; Forest areas; Grasses; Human impact; Industrial development; Infrastructure; Land cover; Land use; Nenets nomadism; Off-road traffic; Oil; Oil & gas activities; Pollution; Reindeer; Remote sensing; Russia; Russian Federation; Salix; Territory; Tundra
• ISSN: 0959-3780; 1872-9495
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2010.12.010

Research highlights a- We present ecological, spatial and social data on land cover change in Arctic Russia. a- Grasses replace shrubs on disturbed tundra reindeer pastures, lowering biodiversity. a- Indigenous Nenets herders are negatively affected by new infrastructure and workers. a- Direct and indirect social-ecological impacts accumulate in space and time regionally. a- Improved communication between herders and workers would substantially reduce impacts. Sizable areas in northwestern arctic Russia have undergone fundamental change in recent decades as the exploration of vast hydrocarbon deposits has intensified. We undertook two case studies on the influence of oil and gas activities within neighbouring federal districts in the tundra zone. Employing a strongly interdisciplinary approach, we studied the ecological, spatial and social dimensions of the visible and perceived changes in land use and land cover. Our data are derived from field sampling, remote sensing and intensive participant observation with indigenous Nenets reindeer herders and non-indigenous workers. Important trends include the rapid expansion of infrastructure, a large influx of workers who compete for freshwater fish, and extensive transformation from shrub- to grass- and sedge-dominated tundra. The latter represents an alternative ecosystem state that is likely to persist indefinitely. On terrain disturbed by off-road vehicle traffic, reindeer pastures' vegetation regenerates with fewer species among which grasses and sedges dominate, thus reducing biodiversity. To have maximum forage value such pastures must be accessible and free of trash, petro-chemicals and feral dogs. We found that a wide range of direct and indirect impacts, both ecological and social, accumulate in space and time such that the combined influence is effectively regional rather than local, depending in part on the placement of facilities. While incoming workers commonly commit poaching, they also serve as exchange partners, making barter for goods possible in remote locations. In general, the same positive and negative impacts of the presence of industry were mentioned in each study region. Even using very high-resolution remote sensing data (Quickbird-2) it is not possible to determine fully the amount of degraded territory in modern oil and gas fields. With regard to policy, both biophysical and social impacts could be substantially reduced if information flow between herders and workers were to be optimi