The volume starts with review articles covering results of researches conducted by institutions participating in IPY programs and acute issues of studies on arctic ecosystems. The article by G.G. Matishov and D.G. Ishkulov (the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute KSC RAS) demonstrates a multidisciplinary scientific and expeditionary activity of the Institute, which includes comprehensive monitoring of marine ecosystems in the Western Arctic on research vessels, oceanographic and hydrobiological observations on nuclear icebreakers along the Northern Sea Route, on-shore expeditions and stationary surveys. Works of the Zoological Institute (B.I. Sirenko, S. Yu. Gagaev) included studies of the benthic fauna of the Chukchi Sea and waters bounding the Antarctic.

Current views on the resource potential of the marine biota and its sensitivity to anthropogenic impact are based on the theory of large marine ecosystems (LME). Principles of the analysis of LME in the Arctic and a summary data on their current state are presented in the article by G.G. Matishov et al.

I.A. Melnikov and R.M. Gogorev (the Institute of Oceanology RAS, the Botanical Institute RAS) consider current processes in the ecosystem of the sea ice of the central Arctic basin and assess the possibility of its transition to conditions of the seasonal development. An article by A.V. Dolgov et al. presents results of studies of the Kara Sea fish fauna conducted by the Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography.

A long-range transport of pollutants in the atmosphere and river waters takes a special place among sources of anthropogenic impact on both marine and terrestrial ecosystems in the Arctic. An article by A.A. Vinogradova (the Institute of Atmospheric Physics RAS) covers the impact of major Russian industrial regions on the environment of the Arctic and Siberia.

P.R. Makarevich and D.G. Ishkulov (MMBI) consider the impact of regional climatic factors on the intra-, inter-annual and long-term variability of zooplankton communities, marine fish and benthos in the Barents Sea. The seasonal development of phytoplankton in waters of Franz Victoria trough and adjoining water areas of the Franz Josef Land archipelago is described in the article by A.A. Oleynik (MMBI). A team of specialists from the MMBI (E.A. Frolova, O.S. Lyubina et al.) conducted the study of benthic communities near coasts of the Spitsbergen, the Franz Josef Land and the Novaya Zemlya and submitted a large body of the initial data.

Two articles by S.E. Belikov (the Research Institute for Environmental Protection, Moscow region), the recognized leader in research of Arctic mammals, are devoted to results of the study of changes in population and habitat of polar bears and marine mammals of the Russian Arctic under the impact of anthropogenic and natural factors. The all year round population nonitoring accomplished by expedition groups onboard atomic icebreakers on the Northern Sea Route has become an important methodical innovation in the Arctic fauna researches. Methods and results of the polare bear researches performed in the MMBI expeditions are represented in the paper of G.G. Matishov, A.A. Kondakov and N.N. Kavtsevich.

L.A. Kolpashchikov (the Extreme North Agricultural Research Institute, Noril’sk) has been studying the unique world’s largest Taimyr population of the wild reindeer on the Taimyr Peninsula during almost 40 years. In the joint article with V.V. Mikhaylov (Institute of Automatics and Informatization, St-Petersburg) he describes the current population state, its spatial distribution, peculiarities of the population dynamics and migration, which have significantly changed over the past decade in connection with the increased economic activity on the peninsula and climate changes.