Ecological Monitoring of Specially Protected Natural Areas of the Russian Arctic

Abstract

active industrial development of the Russian Arctic leads to the increase of anthropogenic pressure on natural ecosystems. One of the main ways to preserve unique territories is the establishment of special regimes for natural resources use and environmental protection, including monitoring of environmental pollution. The creation of network of integrated environmental monitoring in specially protected natural areas will allow studying the environmental response to anthropogenic impact, as well as monitoring the biosphere in places distant from production activity. The conducted analysis of environmental threats, and ongoing environmental monitoring activities, has shown the need to establish programs for environmental monitoring in specially protected natural areas. In the long term, monitoring components will be integrated into a single network that will provide information for assessing the effectiveness of environmental measures; data on the dynamics of natural processes. This network is supposed to help identify the most vulnerable components of the biosphere as well.