TUNDRA stands for Tundra Degradation in the Russian Arctic. It was a research project funded for a period of 3 years (1998-2000) by the IVth Framework ‘Environment and Climate’ Programme of the European Commission. TUNDRA studied the effects of Global Change in the East-European Russian Arctic. The magnitude of expected climatic changes and the fragility of the environment make the Arctic a priority area to study the effects of global change.

The study area selected for the TUNDRA project was the Basin of the Usa River in the East-European Russian Arctic. The area is located at the latitude of the Arctic Circle. It has a total surface area of nearly 100.000 square kilometres.

The Usa River flows from the Ural Mountains in the East to the Pechora River in the West, which in turn drains into the Pechora Bay and the Barents Sea.

The main focus of TUNDRA was to assess feedback processes to the global climate system that originate in the Arctic. Emphasis was given to changes in greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere and in freshwater runoff to the Arctic Ocean taking into account global warming, industrial pollution and the public perception of environmental degradation.

The project was interdisciplinary in nature and involved climatologists, soil scientists, ecologists, palaeoecologists, hydrologists, pollution specialists and social anthropologists from Denmark, Finland, Russia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Contact: Peter Kuhry, Stockholm University
Website: http://www.ulapland.fi/home/arktinen/tundra/tundra.htm