ИСТИНА

The mountainous territories of Russia occupy about half of the country's territory. In the 20th century the mountainous regions experienced a difficult period, including mass migrations, industrialization and collectivization. The entire system of settlement in the mountains has undergone a significant transformation, massive desolation of mountain settlements and “shrinking” of developed areas. Currently, the relationship between man and the surrounding mountain landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, accompanied by the loss of adaptive forms and experience in environmental management and life activity. These changes are occurring against the backdrop of climatic uncertainty, which is manifested in an increase in extreme natural phenomena and the activation of unfavorable processes of exogenous geodynamics. Using the example of the North Caucasus and the Urals, the following research results will be presented: 1) typology of socio-ecological systems of developed mountain territories based on functional specialization, features of modern and historical environmental management, specifics of the natural environment and taking into account heterarchical levels in the center-periphery system; 2) analysis of the transformation of the boundaries of critical mountain ecotopes, the boundaries of developed territories and natural landscapes in key areas, assessment of the influence of climate and economic activity on these transformations.