Sea ice meiofauna abundance in coastal fast ice off Barrow, Alaska, with a focus on Scolelepis squamata (Polychaeta), July 12, 2005 - April 4, 2006 (NODC Accession 0064869)

The fast ice along the Alaskan coastline forms in November/December and reaches a thickness of 1.5-1.8m by April. Break-up usually occurs between late June and mid-July. During this time of sea ice cover, the coastal fast ice houses a variety of meiofaunal invertebrates including young life stages of benthic species which utilize the ice for feeding on the ice algal bloom. The goal of this study was to examine the role of coastal fast ice in the life cycle of juvenile benthic invertebrates using the example of the polychaete Scolelepis squamata. The data presented here include the abundance and seasonal development of the whole ice meiofaunal community in sea ice cores during five sampling periods in the sea ice season 2005/6 in coarse taxonomic resolution (phylum / order level) except for S. squamata. Meiofauna were sorted from at least three replicate bottom sections (0-10cm) of ice cores collected with an ice auger and melted in the dark after addition of 1 l of 0.2 micrometers-filtered sea water. The abundance of ice metazoans in sediment-free ice increased with progressing season from and was dominated by nematodes and polychaete juveniles. Abundances of meroplanktic polychaete juveniles were at least one order of magnitude below abundances in the ice, suggesting sea ice is an important feeding habitat for these young life stages. Associated environmental data will be submitted to the Alaska Ocean Observing System.

阿拉斯加沿岸的固定冰于每年11月/12月形成，至次年4月厚度可达1.5~1.8米。其消融过程通常发生在6月下旬至7月中旬。在该海冰覆盖时段内，沿岸固定冰栖息着各类小型后生无脊椎动物（meiofaunal invertebrates），其中包含利用冰藻水华摄食的底栖物种幼体阶段。本研究以多毛类（Polychaeta）物种Scolelepis squamata为示例，旨在探究沿岸固定冰在底栖无脊椎动物幼体生活史中的作用。本次发布的数据涵盖2005/2006年海冰季5次采样期间，海冰冰芯内全部冰栖小型后生动物群落的丰度与季节动态，分类分辨率达门/目级（S. squamata除外）。小型后生动物样本通过冰钻采集的冰芯至少3份重复底部段（0~10cm）分选获得，样本在加入1升经0.2微米滤膜过滤的海水后于暗处融解。无沉积物冰中的冰栖后生动物丰度随季节推进逐步升高，且以线虫动物门与多毛类幼体为优势类群。暂时性浮游多毛类幼体的丰度至少比冰内丰度低一个数量级，这表明海冰是该类幼体阶段重要的摄食栖息地。相关配套环境数据将提交至阿拉斯加海洋观测系统（Alaska Ocean Observing System）。