NATURAL DYNAMICS OF SUB-ARCTIC LANDSCAPES IN THE WEST SIBERIAN PLAIN AS INDICATOR OF GLOBAL CHANGES OF CLIMATE

摘要

The natural dynamics of landscapes is a complex process driven by various factors. Climate, which in many cases determines the general direction of landscape development, plays an important role among them. However, separate components of landscape respond to the influence of climate and its changes in a different degree. Vegetation is one of the most unstable and sensitive components among them. According to investigations carried out by Tomsk State University in the West Siberian plain, contrasting processes are occurring in the South and North parts of the region. Bogs are expanding in the taiga zone and there is progressive swamping there, which leads to forest tree death. The situation in the northern part of the West Siberian Plain is completely opposite. The bogs are becoming reduced in area in this territory. Here, the forest-tundra area to the North is experiencing thermokarst activity and colonisation of bogs by trees. This is likely to be connected to recent changes of climate and probably to global warming.