Stable but fragile: long-term dynamics of arctic benthic macrofauna in Baydaratskaya Bay (the Kara Sea)

Climate change and direct impacts of human activity are often considered among the main drivers of ecosystem dynamics; however, their relative importance for high-Arctic marine systems is not clearly understood. The Baydaratskaya Bay (southwestern part of the Kara Sea) was not subject to any human activity until 2011, when the construction of the underwater portion of a gas pipeline began; thus, it is a good place to investigate this issue. We...