10.24411/1728-323X-2018-16141

Land use, land planning and landscape planning

CRYOECOLOGICAL MONITORING OF CROPLANDS IN CENTRAL YAKUTIA

P. V. Efremov, Research Scientist, Melnikov Permafrost Institute, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Yakutsk, Russia

In Central Yakutia, the cryoecological state of croplands has significantly deteriorated during the recent 30 years. It is reported that 45 % of the croplands created by forest clearing over the last 50—60 years have become worthless due to enhanced thermokarst activity. Hundreds of thousands of hectares are in a critical state. This causes large ecological and economic losses in the region. The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of climate warming on thermokarst development in the croplands using the data from cryoecological monitoring conducted by the Melnikov Permafrost Institute in the Central Yakutian taiga zone. During the period from 1992 to 2017, integrated investigations were conducted to study the changes in the soil hydrothermal regime and active layer thickness, as well as the development of cryogenic processes and phenomena. Warmer air temperatures in 1986—1989 triggered the development of thermokarst in the ploughed fields. Deeper winter snow cover and higher summer air temperatures in 2005—2008 caused an increase in the active-layer thickness and further thermokarst expansion. This has resulted in irreversible degradation of farmlands in many areas of Central Yakutia.

croplands, climate warming, ice complex, cryogenic processes, thermokarst, air temperature.

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