Monitoring of anthropogenic load, recreational safety of the Arctic tourism objects in Russian Arctic National Park

The article discusses one of the important environmental problems of the high-latitude Arctic - the anthropogenic impact on the species composition of the communities and their ecological state. The paper proposes an experiment to assess the capacity of the Arctic communities to recreational effects. The research was conducted in Tikhaya Bay, Hooker Island, Franz Josef Land archipelago. In the course of the experiment, five test paths were made with a load imitating the real impact. During two seasons, test paths were assessed at the beginning and the end of the season using three parameters: botanical diversity, turf disintegration process, and soil processes. Diagnostic indicators for assessing the disturbance of the state of the paths with assigned points of negative consequences were developed. According to the results of the research, the permissible anthropogenic load on typical communities of this territory was determined.