Photographic records of plant phenology and spring river flush timing in a river lowland ecosystem at the taiga–tundra boundary, northeastern Siberia

Arctic terrestrial ecosystems near the treeline in river lowlands are vulnerable to the changing climate and seasonal extreme events, including flooding. We set up a simple camera monitoring system to record the timings and durations of the leafy period and the spring flush of river water at three observation sites (Boydom [B]: 70.64°N, 148.15°E; Kodac [K]:70.56°N, 148.26°E; Verkhny-Khatistakh [VK]:70.25°N,147.47°E) in the Indigirka lowland, in north-eastern Siberia. Time-lapse digital cameras were located at seven points across the three sites. The time intervals were 1–4 or 24 hours. The minimum and maximum monitoring periods were 2-years (July-2016 to August-2018) at B and 5-years (August-2013 to July-2018) at K. One camera documented the timings of river ice melt and open water periods from the riverbank of the Kryvaya River, one of the small tributaries of the Indigirka River. The other six cameras recorded several types of ground cover typical of the area, including larch trees (Larix cajanderi), shrubs (including Salix spp., and Betula nana), forbs, mosses, and graminoids in an ecosystem of sparsely forested shrublands, wetlands, and riversides. The data consists of 45,617 JPEG-format images. This dataset can be used to detect the onset and offset of the growing season and to capture the ice melt timing and water cover periods in wetlands and riversides. It may be useful in validating satellite data such as the vegetation remote sensing index for remote and little-known areas. These data may contribute to the study of the role of high-latitude ecosystems in global climate changes.