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A strong decline and thinning of the Arctic sea-ice cover over the past five decades has been documented. The former multiyear sea-ice system has largely changed to an annual system and with it the dynamics of sea-ice transport across the Arctic Ocean. Less sea ice is reaching the Fram Strait and more ice and ice-transported material is released in the northern Laptev Sea and the central Arctic Ocean. This trend is expected to have a decisive impact on ice associated (“sympagic”) communities. As sympagic fauna plays an important role in transmitting carbon from the ice-water interface to the pelagic and benthic food webs, it is important to monitor its community composition under the changing environmental conditions. We investigated the taxonomic composition, abundance and distribution of sea-ice meiofauna (here heterotrophs >10 μm; eight stations) and under-ice fauna (here metazoans >300 μm; fourteen stations) in Arctic 1.5 year-old pack ice north of Svalbard. Sampling was conducted during spring 2015 by sea-ice coring and trawling with a Surface and Under-Ice Trawl. We identified 42 taxa associated with the sea ice. The total abundance of sea-ice meiofauna ranged between 580 and 17,156 ind.m–2 and was dominated by Ciliophora (46%), Copepoda nauplii (29%), and Harpacticoida (20%). In contrast to earlier studies in this region, we found no Nematoda and few flatworms in our sea-ice samples. Under-ice fauna abundance ranged between 15 and 6,785 ind.m–2 and was dominated by Appendicularia (58%), caused by exceptionally high abundance at one station. Copepoda nauplii (23%), Calanus finmarchicus (9%), and Calanus glacialis (6%) were also very abundant while sympagic Amphipoda were comparatively rare (0.35%). Both sympagic communities showed regional differences in community composition and abundance between shelf and offshore stations, but only for the under-ice fauna those differences were statistically significant. Selected environmental variables moderately explained

Half of the Arctic Ocean is deep sea (>1000 m), and this area is currently transitioning from being permanently ice-covered to being seasonally ice-free. Despite these drastic changes, it remains unclear how organisms are distributed in the deep Arctic basins, and particularly what feeds them. Here, we summarize data on auto- and heterotrophic organisms in the benthic, pelagic, and sympagic realm of the Arctic Ocean basins from the past three decades and put together an organic carbon budget for this region. Based on the budget, we investigate whether our current understanding of primary and secondary production and vertical carbon flux are balanced by the current estimates of the carbon demand by deep-sea benthos. At first glance, our budget identifies a mismatch between the carbon supply by primary production (3–46 g C m−2 yr−1), the carbon demand of organisms living in the pelagic (7–17 g C m−2) and the benthic realm (< 5 g C m−2 yr−1) versus the low vertical carbon export (at 200 m: 0.1–1.5 g C m−2 yr−1, at 3000–4000 m: 0.01–0.73 g C m−2 yr−1). To close the budget, we suggest that episodic events of large, fast sinking ice algae aggregates, export of dead zooplankton, as well as large food falls need to be quantified and included. This work emphasizes the clear need for a better understanding of the quantity, phenology, and the regionality of carbon supply and demand in the deep Arctic basins, which will allow us to evaluate how the ecosystem may change in the future.

Continental slopes – steep regions between the shelf break and abyssal ocean – play key roles in the climatology and ecology of the Arctic Ocean. Here, through review and synthesis, we find that the narrow slope regions contribute to ecosystem functioning disproportionately to the size of the habitat area (∼6% of total Arctic Ocean area). Driven by inflows of sub-Arctic waters and steered by topography, boundary currents transport boreal properties and particle loads from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans along-slope, thus creating both along and cross-slope connectivity gradients in water mass properties and biomass. Drainage of dense, saline shelf water and material within these, and contributions of river and meltwater also shape the characteristics of the slope domain. These and other properties led us to distinguish upper and lower slope domains; the upper slope (shelf break to ∼800 m) is characterized by stronger currents, warmer sub-surface temperatures, and higher biomass across several trophic levels (especially near inflow areas). In contrast, the lower slope has slower-moving currents, is cooler, and exhibits lower vertical carbon flux and biomass. Distinct zonation of zooplankton, benthic and fish communities result from these differences. Slopes display varying levels of system connectivity: (1) along-slope through property and material transport in boundary currents, (2) cross-slope through upwelling of warm and nutrient rich water and down-welling of dense water and organic rich matter, and (3) vertically through shear and mixing. Slope dynamics also generate separating functions through (1) along-slope and across-slope fronts concentrating biological activity, and (2) vertical gradients in the water column and at the seafloor that maintain distinct physical structure and community turnover. At the upper slope, climatic change is manifested in sea-ice retreat, increased heat and mass transport by sub-Arctic inflows, surface warming, and altered vertical

We investigated the taxonomic composition and abundance of under-ice fauna (metazoans >300 µm) at fourteen stations in the Arctic Ocean, north of Svalbard. Sampling was conducted during spring in 2015 with the Surface and Under Ice Trawl (SUIT) and the catch of the plankton net (300 µm mesh size) was investigated for under-ice fauna. Abundances of individuals/m² were calculated from counting numbers., We investigated the taxonomic composition and abundance of under-ice fauna (metazoans >300 µm) at fourteen stations in the Arctic Ocean, north of Svalbard. Sampling was conducted during spring in 2015 with the Surface and Under Ice Trawl (SUIT) and the catch of the plankton net (300 µm mesh size) was investigated for under-ice fauna. Abundances of individuals/m² were calculated from counting numbers.

We investigated the taxonomic composition and abundance of sea-ice meiofauna (here heterotrophs >10 µm) at eight ice stations on Arctic pack ice north of Svalbard. Sampling was conducted during spring in 2015 by sea-ice coring. The bottom 10 cm of each ice core was investigated for sea-ice meiofauna and abundances of individuals/m² were calculated from counting numbers., We investigated the taxonomic composition and abundance of sea-ice meiofauna (here heterotrophs >10 µm) at eight ice stations on Arctic pack ice north of Svalbard. Sampling was conducted during spring in 2015 by sea-ice coring. The bottom 10 cm of each ice core was investigated for sea-ice meiofauna and abundances of individuals/m² were calculated from counting numbers.

Currently, > 4,000 Arctic macro- and megabenthic species are known, representing the majority of Arctic marine faunal diversity. This estimate is expected to increase. • Benthic invertebrates are food to shes, marine mammals, seabirds and humans, and are commercially harvested. • Traditional Knowledge (TK) emphasizes the link between the benthic species and their predators, such as walrus, and their signi cance to culture. • Decadal changes in benthos biodiversity are observed in some well-studied regions, such as the Barents Sea and Chukchi Sea. • Drivers related to climate-change such as warming, ice decline and acidification are affecting the benthic community on a pan-Arctic scale, while drivers such as trawling, river/glacier discharge and invasive species have signficant impact on regional or local scales. • Increasing numbers of species are moving into, or shifting, their distributions in Arctic waters. These species will outcompete, prey on or offer less nutritious value as prey for Arctic species. • Current monitoring efforts have focused on macro- and megabenthic species, but have been confined to the Chukchi Sea and the Barents Sea. Efforts are increasing in waters of Greenland, Iceland, the Canadian Arctic, and in the Norwegian Sea. All other Arctic Marine Areas are lacking long-term benthic monitoring. • As a first step towards an international collaborative monitoring framework, we recommend to develop a time- and cost-effective, long-term and standardized monitoring of megabenthic communities in all Arctic regions with regular annual groundfish assessment surveys. Expanding monitoring on micro-, meio- and macrobenthic groups is encouraged.

© The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 121 (2016): 675-717, doi:10.1002/2015JG003140., The Arctic Ocean is a fundamental node in the global hydrological cycle and the ocean's thermohaline circulation. We here assess the system's key functions and processes: (1) the delivery of fresh and low-salinity waters to the Arctic Ocean by river inflow, net precipitation, distillation during the freeze/thaw cycle, and Pacific Ocean inflows; (2) the disposition (e.g., sources, pathways, and storage) of freshwater components within the Arctic Ocean; and (3) the release and export of freshwater components into the bordering convective domains of the North Atlantic. We then examine physical, chemical, or biological processes which are influenced or constrained by the local quantities and geochemical qualities of freshwater; these include stratification and vertical mixing, ocean heat flux, nutrient supply, primary production, ocean acidification, and biogeochemical cycling. Internal to the Arctic the joint effects of sea ice decline and hydrological cycle intensification have strengthened coupling between the ocean and the atmosphere (e.g., wind and ice drift stresses, solar radiation, and heat and moisture exchange), the bordering drainage basins (e.g., river discharge, sediment transport, and erosion), and terrestrial ecosystems (e.g., Arctic greening, dissolved and particulate carbon loading, and altered phenology of biotic components). External to the Arctic freshwater export acts as both a constraint to and a necessary ingredient for deep convection in the bordering subarctic gyres and thus affects the global thermohaline circulation. Geochemical fingerprints attained within the Arctic Ocean are likewise exported into the neighboring subarctic systems and beyond. Finally, we discuss observed and modeled functions and changes in this system on seasonal, annual, and decadal time scales and discuss mechanisms that link the marine system to atmospheric, terrestrial, and cryospheric systems., World Climate Research Program-Climate and Cryosphere (WCRP-CliC); Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) International Arctic Science Committee (IASC); Norwegian Ministries of Environment and of Foreign Affairs; Swedish Secretariat for Environmental Earth System Sciences (SSEESS); Swedish Polar Research Secretariat; NSF Grant Numbers: OCE 1130008, 1249133, AON-1203473, AON-1338948, OCE 1434041; Polar Research Programme of the Norwegian Research Council Grant Number: 226415

This contribution provides a brief overview of current approaches and anticipated advances in obtaining a range of field measurements for sea ice in (sub)polar regions. The multiple uses of the ice cover and its important role in social-environmental systems at high north- ern and southern latitudes require a broad range of approaches and measurements to be considered. Building on a recently published monograph with detailed information about the state of the art, the present contributions provides concise summaries and updates for the following topical areas: Field research study and sampling de- sign, snow on sea ice, ice thickness and morphology, ice coring and measurement of key physical properties, ice optics and surface en- ergy budget, transport properties, sea ice biota and biogeochemical properties, autonomous sensors, UASs and UAVs, and ship-based observations. For each of these topics, relevant background infor- mation is provided before discussing key methodological approaches and techniques in more detail. Most of the topical sections then include an example to illustrate how the approaches are applied in specific cases. Each section then concludes with a outlook on fu- ture developments and research needs. Common to all types of field measurements is the conclusion that due to a substantial in- crease in human activities in ice-covered maritime regions and the impacts of rapid environmental change a great need for accurate, consistent and intercomparable sea-ice datasets has arisen. Method- ological advances and scientific progress over the past few decades now puts the research and operations community in a position to develop best practices with respect to field measurements that can lead to standardized, interoperable approaches, greatly minimizing risks associated with lack of suitable, consistent datasets.

A comprehensive seafloor biomass and abundance database has been constructed from 24 oceanographic institutions worldwide within the Census of Marine Life (CoML) field projects. The machine-learning algorithm, Random Forests, was employed to model and predict seafloor standing stocks from surface primary production, water-column integrated and export particulate organic matter (POM), seafloor relief, and bottom water properties. The predictive models explain 63% to 88% of stock variance among the major size groups. Individual and composite maps of predicted global seafloor biomass and abundance are generated for bacteria, meiofauna, macrofauna, and megafauna (invertebrates and fishes). Patterns of benthic standing stocks were positive functions of surface primary production and delivery of the particulate organic carbon (POC) flux to the seafloor. At a regional scale, the census maps illustrate that integrated biomass is highest at the poles, on continental margins associated with coastal upwelling and with broad zones associated with equatorial divergence. Lowest values are consistently encountered on the central abyssal plains of major ocean basins The shift of biomass dominance groups with depth is shown to be affected by the decrease in average body size rather than abundance, presumably due to decrease in quantity and quality of food supply. This biomass census and associated maps are vital components of mechanistic deep-sea food web models and global carbon cycling, and as such provide fundamental information that can be incorporated into evidence-based management.