While working in the Subarctic of Western Siberia, we noticed that in places of active thermokarst the biological productivity of vegetation increases. Plants that are absent in nearby ecosystems with stable permafrost grow in thermokarst-affected ecosystems. Thermokarst is usually associated with human influence. What are the typical responses of productivity and biodiversity to the effects of thermokarst in your research area? Why does thermokarst increase vegetation productivity? Is this a thermal effect? Is this the effect of increasing soil fertility? Is this the effect of reducing competition from indigenous zonal flora? Or is it a complex of the listed reasons?

I am attaching a photograph of the community on the thermokarst slope and a photograph of a typical tundra (latitude N70 °).