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The advection of warm Pacific water and the reduction in sea ice in the western Arctic Ocean may influence the abundance and distribution of copepods, a key component of food webs. To quantify the factors affecting the abundance of copepods in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas, we constructed habitat models explaining the spatial patterns of large and small Arctic and Pacific copepods separately. Copepods were sampled using NORPAC (North Pacific Standard) nets. The structures of water masses indexed by principle component analysis scores, satellite-derived timing of sea ice retreat, bottom depth and chlorophyll a concentration were integrated into generalized additive models as explanatory variables. The adequate models for all copepods exhibited clear continuous relationships between the abundance of copepods and the indexed water masses. Large Arctic copepods were abundant at stations where the bottom layer was saline; however they were scarce at stations where warm fresh water formed the upper layer. Small Arctic copepods were abundant at stations where the upper layer was warm and saline and the bottom layer was cold and highly saline. In contrast, Pacific copepods were abundant at stations where the Pacific-origin water mass was predominant (i.e. a warm, saline upper layer and saline and a highly saline bottom layer). All copepod groups showed a positive relationship with early sea ice retreat. Early sea ice retreat has been reported to initiate spring blooms in open water, allowing copepods to utilize more food while maintaining their high activity in warm water without sea ice and cold water. This finding indicates that early sea ice retreat has positive effects on the abundance of all copepod groups in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas, suggesting a change from a pelagic–benthic-type ecosystem to a pelagic–pelagic type.

Winter ice cover of the Arctic Ocean makes year-round zooplankton sampling by plankton net a difficult task. Therefore, the collection of copepods with a sediment trap can be a powerful tool. In the present study, we analysed the seasonal changes in the population structures of five dominant planktonic copepods (Oncaea parila, Calanus hyperboreus, Metridia longa, Paraeuchaeta glacialis and Heterorhabdus norvegicus), which were collected using a sediment trap rotated at 10-15day intervals moored at 184-260m in the Northwind Abyssal Plain (75 degrees 00N, 162 degrees 00W) of the western Arctic Ocean from October 2010 to September 2012. Oncaea parila C6F with egg sacs occurred throughout the year, and the total abundance and composition of early copepodid stages (C1-C3) had two peaks each year. Calanus hyperboreus was dominated by C6F throughout the year, and their maturation was observed during February to May. Metridia longa C6F had a clear seasonality in lipid accumulation and gonad maturation: high lipid accumulation was observed from October to February, whereas gonad maturation occurred from March to September. Paraeuchaeta glacialis C6F also showed seasonality in lipid accumulation and gonad maturation, although their seasonal patterns varied from those of M. longa: high lipid individuals were abundant from February to April and mature individuals dominated from October to November. Heterorhabdus norvegicus showed seasonal changes in population structure as well: C1, C5, and C6M dominated from April to May, November to February and August to October, respectively. The life cycle patterns of these species are compared with those reported from other areas. While the results obtained by a sediment trap are inevitably subject to collection bias (i.e. passive collection at a fixed depth), a sediment trap should be considered as a powerful tool for the evaluation of the life cycle of planktonic copepods, especially in ice-covered oceans.

To examine seasonal changes in the mesozooplankton community, analyses were made on the swimmer samples (>1 mm) collected by a sediment trap mooring at 184 m depth on the Northwind Abyssal Plain in the western Arctic Ocean during October 2010–September 2011. The zooplankton swimmer flux ranged from 5 to 44 ind. m−2 day−1 and was greater during July to October; copepods were the dominant taxon. Based on the zooplankton swimmer flux, cluster analysis classified samples into three groups (A, B-1 and B-2). The occurrence of each group showed clear seasonality; group A was observed during July to October, group B-1 was seen in November to January and group B-2 during March to June. The seasonal variability in population structures of four dominant copepod swimmers was clearly different between the species. Most Calanus hyperboreus were copepodid stage 6 female (C6F) throughout the year. For Metridia longa and Paraeuchaeta glacialis, C6Fs dominated during January to May, and early copepodid stages increased during June to October. Heterorhabdus norvegicus was dominated by stage C5 during November to February, and C6F/M during March to May. Since Pacific copepods (Neocalanus cristatus) occurred in significant number during August–September, possible causes are discussed.