Оценка уровня экологического риска в речных экосистемах арктической зоны России

Abstract

The methodological approaches and the results of assessing the environmental risk level in river ecosystems of the Arctic region of Russia was presented. Assessing of the environmental risk level in ecosystem includes identifying possible negative consequences of anthropogenic impact, which are appeared in a violation of the structural organization of biocenoses. An intensification of the ecological devolution of individual communities of aquatic organisms is observed in modern conditions of anthropogenic impact and climatic variations in the Arctic ecosystems of rivers. The tendency to increase the ecological devolution level as the anthropogenic impact intensifies during the transition from less polluted Arctic rivers to more polluted ones (dirty) has been revealed. The ecological devolution level varies from absence (anthropogenic stress) to its appearance in the form of elements of ecological devolution. The results of the final assessment of the environmental risk level in the ecosystems of the Arctic region of Russia according to the ecological devolution level showed that the studied sections of the rivers are characterized by a low and medium level of risk. Further enhancement of anthropogenic impact on the catchments of Arctic rivers can lead to disruption of the ecological state of aquatic ecosystems and intensification of ecological devolutions processes which may increase the level of environmental risk.