The state of the ecosystems in the central Barents Region: scale, factors and mechanism of disturbance

More than 650 locations spread over a 188000-km2 area in the European Arctic (Russia, Finland and Norway) were visited in the course of an ecogeochemical mapping project during 1995. Moss and soil samples were taken for chemical analyses and each site was documented in a series of photographs. The qualitative, empirical data gained during the project shows that the ecosystem is damaged over vast areas. The scale of the damage, as well as its causes, vary from country to country. Industrial activity, including two of the worldʹs largest SO2 and heavy-metal emission sources on the Kola Peninsula, is responsible for almost all of the pollution and visual ecosystem damage found in the Russian project area. In the Finnish and Norwegian areas, reindeer overgrazing is the major cause of ecosystem damage. The scale of the damage from overgrazing in Finland is comparable to, and in Norway even more extensive than, the industry-related damage found in Russia. Comparison of the two different factors involving human impact (pollution and overgrazing) on a delicate ecosystem provides new information on the mechanisms of ecosystem degradation.