#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The habitat of common vipers, grey herons and some species of spiders is expanding north. The reason for this is warming in the Arctic, the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Clean Arctic – Vostok-77 expedition’s press service reports.
“We are collecting data from local residents who have been recruited to work in long-term monitoring groups, or, as journalists have already nicknamed them, scientific partisans. Their task is to send us photos or videos of animals unusual for their area. We have already received information from the Yamal Peninsula, Yakutia, the Hanty-Mansiysk autonomous district and Taimyr. Not only the grey heron, but also several species of spiders, as well as the common viper, have been spotted north of their usual habitats”, said the scientific secretary of the expedition, Oksana Tolstyh.
We are not talking about mass migration of animals to the Arctic. So far, only separate warming areas are being formed – long and narrow, they are called petals or corridors, in which animals are mastering previously cold lands for them and getting to the Arctic. As did, for example, the heron in the Krasnoyarsk region and Yakutia.
According to Oksana Tolstyh, it is possible to quite clearly define the boundaries of these petals narrowing to the north – it is in these areas, where permafrost soils are melting, that the risk of destruction of structures built on permafrost is especially high.
The flora of the Arctic is also changing. The boundaries of deciduous forests are gradually shifting to the south, replacing coniferous forests – a transformation of the entire ecosystem is taking place.
“This change will affect human life in these areas – from the appearance of atypical plants, insects and animals to a change in weather conditions, which will definitely affect issues of well-being and health of the population. It is important to understand this, it is critical to be prepared for such changes – in fact, it is already necessary to adapt to the consequences of climate change, to take care of our common future”, said Sergey Rybakov, CEO of the Nature and People foundation.
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Text: Victor Borodin, Photo: Severny Gorod MC
