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Recent Arctic warming has major influences on biological communities, especially in freshwater environments. There is substantial evidence that lake ecosystems in the Canadian Arctic and Fennoscandia are undergoing changes that have been linked to human-induced climate warming during the past 150–100 years. However, only few data linking recent climatic changes with the changes in biological communities are available from the Russian Arctic. We investigated a short sediment core (bottom of the core dates to 1830 CE) from Lake Bolshoy Kharbey, the biggest lake of the Bol`shezemelskaya Tundra, western Russian Arctic, using chironomid, cladocera, diatom and palynological analyses. Variations in biological proxy were linked to regional meteorological data and compared with the available sub-recent palaeoecological and hydrobiological studies from the region. The overall change in species composition was the smallest for terrestrial vegetation (0.485 SD) followed by cladoceran communities (0.966 SD). Chironomid taxonomic turnover was 1.331 SD, and the greatest rate of change was observed in diatom assemblages (1.701 SD). Changes in biological communities demonstrated a correlation with meteorologically recorded climatic parameters (air temperature and precipitation). The strongest taxonomic shifts in biological communities took place in 1880 and 1980. Both dates can be linked with prominent and recent climatic events: 1880 can be related to the end of the Little Ice Age in the region and 1980 is the beginning of the modern accelerating warming.

As in many Arctic regions, the fauna and biodiversity of Polar Ural lakes are not widely known. However, the fauna of these northern, relatively pristine lakes has recently become threatened due to industrial development in the Arctic. In this study, the zoobenthos of 13 relatively large lakes and 9 small ponds was studied during the summer (July and August) from 2003 to 2013. The aim was to conduct a taxonomic inventory of benthic communities in the Polar Ural lakes by combining available literature data with new information about the species composition of the zoobenthos. The lowest diversity and abundance values were found in cold deep lakes with large boulders and little algal growth, whilst the highest values were found in lakes with well-developed aquatic and riparian vegetation. In the littoral zone, Crustacea (Harpacticoida, Cyclopoida, and Cladocera) were the most abundant group, followed by Chironomidae, Nematoda, and Oligochaeta. Insects such as Plecoptera, Trichoptera, and Coleoptera accounted for only 4% of the total abundance. In the profundal zone, Chironomidae larvae and Crustacea were numerically dominant, and the share of Ostracoda was much higher than that in the littoral zone. Overall, a total of 208 invertebrate taxa (including 160 species) were recorded. The most diverse groups were Oligochaeta (43 taxa), Crustacea (36), Trichoptera (25), Mollusca (28), and Chironomidae (22). In the future, the faunas of these Arctic lakes can be used as indicators of regional and global climatic changes and in investigations of the adaptation of aquatic invertebrates to extreme environments.

1. Warming in the Arctic is predicted to change freshwater biodiversity through loss of unique taxa and northward range expansion of lower latitude taxa. Detecting such changes requires establishing circumpolar baselines for diversity, and understanding the primary drivers of diversity. 2. We examined benthic macroinvertebrate diversity using a circumpolar dataset of >1,500 Arctic lake and river sites. Rarefied α diversity within catchments was assessed along latitude and temperature gradients. Community composition was assessed through region-scale analysis of β diversity and its components (nestedness and turnover), and analysis of biotic–abiotic relationships. 3. Rarefied α diversity of lakes and rivers declined with increasing latitude, although more strongly across mainland regions than islands. Diversity was strongly related to air temperature, with the lowest diversity in the coldest catchments. Regional dissimilarity was highest when mainland regions were compared with islands, suggesting that connectivity limitations led to the strongest dissimilarity. High contributions of nestedness indicated that island regions contained a subset of the taxa found in mainland regions. 4. High Arctic rivers and lakes were predominately occupied by Chironomidae and Oligochaeta, whereas Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera taxa were more abundant at lower latitudes. Community composition was strongly associated with temperature, although geology and precipitation were also important correlates. 5. The strong association with temperature supports the prediction that warming will increase Arctic macroinvertebrate diversity, although low diversity on islands suggests that this increase will be limited by biogeographical constraints. Long-term harmonised monitoring across the circumpolar region is necessary to detect such changes to diversity and inform science-based management. benthic invertebrates, dispersal, diversity, high latitude, lake, river

One of the features of the tundra zone is the diversity of freshwater bodies, where, among benthic invertebrates, representatives of Annelida are the most significant component in terms of ecological and species diversity. The oligochaete and leech faunas have previously been studied in two of the three largest lake ecosystems of the Bolshezemelskaya tundra (the Vashutkiny Lakes system, Lake Ambarty and some other lakes in the Korotaikha River basin). This article provides current data on annelid fauna from the third lake ecosystem in the region, Kharbey Lakes and adjacent water bodies. The annelid fauna includes 68 species, including 51 oligochaete species, and 17 species of leeches. For each species, we give information on currently recognised classification, taxonomic synonymy, geographical distribution, findings of the species within the Russian tundra, and brief ecological characteristics.

The purpose of the data paper was to introduce into scientific literature the results of scientific work carried out for the third edition of the 'Red Data Book of the Komi Republic'. The article reflects methodological approaches to the formation of a list of rare and in need of protection species and describes the corresponding datasets published in GBIF. Information about 7,187 occurrences of 438 rare species and infraspecies included in the third edition of the 'Red Data Book of the Komi Republic' have been published.

Specimens from five Arcynopteryx dichroa (McL.) populations were examined to study wing length and body size at different latitudes and altitudes. In northern Europe, female A. dichroa are usually long winged, while males are short winged. During the past 20 years, only two short-winged populations have been found, in a nameless lake, herein called Lake Ozernoe, and in Bolshaya Lagorta Lake, in Russia’s Ural Mountains. In the isolated population of Ozernoe Lake (850 m a.s.l.), both sexes were micropterous. In Bolshaya Lagorta Lake (380 m a.s.l.), females were brachypterous. However, at a higher altitude (560 and 760 m a.s.l.), a population was found with macropterous females. Specimens of both short-winged populations had smaller body length than long-winged populations. Our findings give limited support to the idea that stonefly wings are reduced with altitude and latitude and more support to the supposition that small wing size is associated with population isolation resulting from lengthy geological isolation. Keywords: Wing length; short-winged population; Urals; mountain lakes; latitude; isolation. (Published: 21 April 2016) To access the supplementary material for this article, please see the supplementary files in the column to the right (under Article Tools). Citation: Polar Research 2016, 35 , 26596, http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/polar.v35.26596

For the first time, we studied zoobenthos in the upper reaches of the river Sula located beyond the Arctic Circle. During the study period (July, 2016), the water temperature warmed up to 18-23°С in the river channel and up to 3-5° C in the streams. The zoobenthos of the upper reaches of the river has high quantity but low biomass. Its average abundance was 30.3 thousand individuals per m 2 , and biomass – 2.7 g/m 2 . The highest zoobenthos biomass was founded at the riffles (up to 66.1 thousand individuals per m 2 , and biomass – 6 g/m 2 ) where chironomids and black flies dominated. At the pools, we found low abundance of zoobenthos – 5 thousand individuals per m 2 and 0.3 g/m 2 . Here, in addition to dipterans, a large proportion of leeches and oligochaetes were noted. Near the river banks, 25 groups of hydrobionts were found. Chironomids (40.3%) and ostracods (20.7%) dominated by the number; Ephemeroptera larvae (44.9 %) dominated by biomass. In deeper parts of the river channel, the benthos was poorer; the same groups were numerous as near the banks, and oligochaetes dominated in the biomass (57.9%). The zoobenthos of the streams differed from the riverbed by the greater number of amphipods; its quantitative development was close to that of the river. We found 28 large taxa of zoobenthos in the upper reaches of the river Sula and it tributaries. In the oxbow, we found three more groups: Megaloptera, Heteroptera and Porifera. In general, zoobenthos was dominated by ancient orders of insects: mayflies, stoneflies, caddis flies, and beetles. In addition to dipterans (10 families), 52 species of insects have been recorded: 11 species of mayflies, 10 of stoneflies, 19 species of caddis flies, and 12 species of beetles. In the article, we provide the species list of the zoobenthos. Our research supplemented the fauna of amphibiotic and aquatic insects of theNorthern Timan rivers and emphasized the need to protect the catchment area of this intact region of the Malozemelskaya tundra.

The oligochaete fauna of 25 lakes located in the Polar and Subpolar regions of the Ural Mountains in Russia was studied. In total, 46 oligochaete taxa were collected, 32 of them identified to species level. Naididae had the highest number of taxa (19); the other taxa belonged to Pristinidae (2), Enchytraeidae (6), Tubificidae (10), Lumbriculidae (8) and Lumbricidae (1). Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to characterize the relationship between abundance of oligochaete species, abundance and biomass of all oligochaetes, abundance of separate families and environmental factors. Latitude, elevation, silt, detritus, moss and algal periphyton and depth were found to be factors influencing the distribution of oligochaetes.

Drift of stoneflies in a tributary of the Pechora, the largest river in the European Northeast of Russia, and in the Varzuga salmon river, Kolsky Peninsula, was studied. The highest densities of stonefly larvae in the drift were observed in spring (mature larvae drifting) as well as in late summer to early autumn (juvenile larvae and mature larvae of species emerging in autumn). Minimal drift values were observed in summer and in winter when the rivers were covered with ice. For stonefly larvae, pronounced night–day migratory dynamics are typical. A comparison between species composition of stonefly larvae in the stomachs of juvenile grayling and their composition in the benthos and drift during night and day was conducted. There is a disparity between the quantitative composition of species in drift and in fish stomachs. For juvenile grayling, an active selection of bottom organisms is typical. The largest mature larvae of Leuctra fusca were more abundant in grayling diets than in the drift.

The Pechora Region (PR) has extensive natural resources supporting forestry, oil and gas industries. The objective of this integrated study was to identify if local and long range pollution and bio ...

We studied micro-benthic copepods and cladocerans in the bottom substrates of 12 lakes in the Bol’shezemel’skaya tundra in North-East European Russia during the summer. About 30 species of Cladocera and 28 species and subspecies of Copepoda were found. The majority of the micro-crustaceans are palaearctic or northern palaearctic. But the harpacticoid fauna of the western part of the studied region had specific European features, and three species of the harpacticoid fauna in the eastern part of the region were Siberian. It is therefore a boundary territory for two zoogeographical regions, the arctic and subarctic zones. Acidophilic (Arcticocamptus arcticus (Lilljeborg 1902)) and halophilic (Microsetella norvegica (Boeck 1864)) harpacticoid species were found in the lakes of the eastern part of Bol’shezemel’skaya tundra. On basis of their way of locomotion we distinguished five ecological groups and on basis of their feeding habits four ecological groups of micro-crustaceans. Groups with a similar way of locomotion were likely distributed over the studied water bodies. Habitat (inshore versus offshore), substrate particle size and substrate hardness were of paramount importance for the species distribution.