(Table 1) Ice station data during POLARSTERN expeditions ARK-XVIII/2 and ARK-XIX/1 to Fram Strait, the western Barents Sea and north of Svalbard

During two expeditions of the R.V. “Polarstern” to the Arctic Ocean, pack ice and under-ice water samples were collected during two different seasons: late summer (September 2002) and late winter (March/April 2003). Physical and biological properties of the ice were investigated to explain seasonal differences in species composition, abundance and distribution patterns of sympagic meiofauna (in this case: heterotrophs >20 µm). In winter, the ice near the surface was characterized by extreme physical conditions (minimum ice temperature: -22°C, maximum brine salinity: 223, brine volume: <=5%) and more moderate conditions in summer (minimum ice temperature: -5.6°C, maximum brine salinity: 94, most brine volumes: >=5%). Conditions in the lowermost part of the ice did not differ to a high degree between summer and winter. Chlorophyll a concentrations (chl a) showed significant differences between summer and winter: during winter, concentrations were mostly <1.0 µg chl a/l, while chl a concentrations of up to 67.4 µmol/l were measured during summer. The median of depth-integrated chl a concentration in summer was significantly higher than in winter. Integrated abundances of sympagic meiofauna were within the same range for both seasons and varied between 0.6 and 34.1×103 organisms /m**2 in summer and between 3.7 and 24.8×10**3 organisms /m**2 in winter. With regard to species composition, a comparison between the two seasons showed distinct differences: while copepods (42.7%) and rotifers (33.4%) were the most abundant sea-ice meiofaunal taxa during summer, copepod nauplii dominated the community, comprising 92.9% of the fauna, in winter. Low species abundances were found in the under-ice water, indicating that overwintering of the other sympagic organisms did not take place there, either. Therefore, their survival strategy over the polar winter remains unclear.

在“极地号”（R.V. Polarstern）科考船两次赴北冰洋的科考航次期间，研究人员于两个不同季节采集了浮冰群（pack ice）与冰下海水样本：分别为夏末（2002年9月）与冬末（2003年3/4月）。
本研究对海冰的物理与生物学特性展开调查，旨在阐释冰栖小型底栖生物（sympagic meiofauna，本研究中为粒径>20μm的异养生物）的物种组成、丰度与分布格局的季节差异。
冬季时，表层附近海冰的物理环境极为严苛（最低冰温：-22℃，最高卤水盐度：223，卤水体积占比≤5%）；而夏季海冰的环境则更为温和（最低冰温：-5.6℃，最高卤水盐度：94，多数区域卤水体积占比≥5%）。海冰底层的环境条件在夏冬两季并无显著差异。
叶绿素a（chl a）浓度在夏冬两季存在显著差异：冬季时，叶绿素a浓度大多低于1.0 μg chl a/L，而夏季测得的最高浓度可达67.4 μmol/L。夏季水深积分叶绿素a浓度的中位数显著高于冬季。
冰栖小型底栖生物的积分丰度在两季处于同一区间：夏季丰度介于0.6×10^3至34.1×10^3 个/m²，冬季则介于3.7×10^3至24.8×10^3 个/m²。
就物种组成而言，两季存在显著差异：夏季海冰小型底栖生物的优势类群为桡足类（42.7%）与轮虫（33.4%），而冬季则以桡足类无节幼体占绝对优势，其占总群落的92.9%。
冰下海水中的物种丰度较低，这表明其他冰栖生物也并未在此处越冬。因此，这些生物在极地冬季的生存策略仍不明确。