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

Sizable areas in northwestern arctic Russia have undergone fundamental change in recent decades as the explorationofvasthydrocarbondepositshas intensified.Weundertook twocase studieson the influenceof 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 landuseand landcover.Our data arederived fromfield sampling, remote sensingand 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 shrubto grassand sedge-dominated tundra. The latter represents an alternative ecosystemstate that is likely to persist indefinitely. On terrain disturbed by off-road vehicle traffic, reindeer pastures’ vegetation regenerateswith fewer species amongwhich 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, bothecological andsocial, accumulate in spaceand timesuch that thecombined 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 samepositive and negative impacts of thepresence of industry werementioned in each study region. Evenusingveryhigh-resolution remote sensingdata (Quickbird-2) it is notpossible todetermine fully theamount of degraded territory inmodernoil and gasfields.With regard to policy, both biophysical and social impacts could be substantially reduced if information flow between herders and workers were to be optimized. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.