No abstract

No abstract

The Circumpolar North has been changing rapidly within the last decades, and the socioeconomic systems of the Eurasian Arctic and Siberia in particular have displayed the most dramatic changes. Here, anthropogenic drivers of environmental change such as migration and industrialization are added to climateinduced changes in the natural environment such as permafrost thawing and increased frequency of extreme events. Understanding and adapting to both types of changes are important to local and indigenous peoples in the Arctic and for the wider global community due to transboundary connectivity. As local and indigenous peoples, decision-makers and scientists perceive changes and impacts differently and often fail to communicate efficiently to respond to changes adequately, we convened a meeting of the three groups in Salekhard in 2017. The outcomes of the meeting include perceptions of how the three groups each perceive the main issues affecting health and well-being and recommendations for working together better.

No abstract

Wildfires are a naturally rare phenomenon in subarctic tundra ecosystems. Climate change triggers feedback loops that probably increase fire frequency and extent in those regions. Fire can change ecosystem properties of the Arctic tundra. However, long-term effects of fire on vegetation dynamics are still poorly understood.We studied soil and vegetation patterns of three fire scars (>44, 28 and 12 years old), situated at the northern border of the forest tundra ecozone within the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Western Siberia, Russia.Lichen cover was lower on burnt compared with unburnt plots, while bryophyte and shrub cover was higher. Those effects were still apparent more than four decades after fire.Betula nana showed enhanced growth of individual plants after burning, indicating increased vitality and growth potential, due to modified ecosystem processes after fire: While the active layer and soil temperatures returned to levels comparable with unburned plots after 44 years, shrub growth was still enhanced. This reveals a strong fire legacy effect and can reinforce shrub encroachment with far reaching impacts on the ecosystem.