Land-Use Changes on Ob River Floodplain (Western Siberia, Russia) in Context of Natural and Social Changes over Past 200 Years

Over the past century, substantial changes in land use have taken place in the boreal zone of northern Eurasia. The consequences of these large-scale changes for the ecosystems of Europe have been well studied; however, they have not been addressed for the large expanses of Russia. We conducted a retrospective analysis of the landscape dynamics of the middle reaches of the Ob floodplain (Western Siberia) using multitemporal maps of the vegetation cover and land use for five time points (1830, 1910, 1950, 1976, and 2019). By the 1830s, all the land that was suitable for haymaking and plowing (rarely flooded and not swamped) had been put to agricultural use. The meadows of the Ob floodplain are human-controlled and were mainly formed before the 1830s. From the 1830s to the 1990s, the meadows were used in agriculture and their areas increased. The maximum development of the floodplain occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, when previous wetlands were put into operation through the construction of drainage systems. A massive abandonment of pastures and reclaimed land occurred in the late 20th century. According to the data over the last 30 years, abandoned meadows are resistant to overgrowth with trees and shrubs. The spatial configurations of the floodplain landscapes have also been quite stable. The main spatial changes are confined to the near-channel floodplain, with the formation of new near-channel shallows. The floodplain landscapes of the Ob River demonstrate substantial spatial and temporal stabilities, and long-standing agricultural development.