Abundance, biomass and composition of the sea ice biota of the Greenland Sea pack ice

During two cruises to the Greenland Sea, we studied the abundance and bioma ss of the sea ice biota in summer and late autumn. The mean calculated biom ass of the sympagic community was 0.2 g C m(-2) ice. Algae contributed on a verage 43% to total biomass, followed by bacteria (31%), heterotrophic flag ellates (20%), and meiofauna (4%). Diatoms were the main primary producers (60% of total algal biomass), but flagellated cells contributed significant ly to the algal biomass. Among the meiofauna, ciliates, nematodes, acoel tu rbellarians and crustaceans were dominant. Calculated potential ingestion r ates of meiofauna (0.6 g C m(-2) (120 d)(-1)) are on the same order of magn itude as annual primary production estimates for Arctic multi-year sea ice. We therefore assume that grazing can control biomass accumulation of prima ry producers inside the sea ice. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.