Sea-ice meiofauna biodiversity from the Nansen Legacy joint cruise JC2-2 (cruise number: 2021710)

Study Extent

The data was collected during the Nansen Legacy joint cruise (JC2-2, cruise number: 2021710) from 24.08 - 25.09.2021 onboard the research vessel RV Kronprins Haakon, along a transect in the Arctic Basin from 81N to 87N. Ice cores were taken at three ice covered station.

Sampling

At ice covered stations, ice cores were taken for the determination of abundance and biomass of sea-ice meiofauna and protists (lowermost 30 cm). Ice cores were taken from undeformed level ice areas with a KOVACS ice corer (Mark II coring system, diameter 9 cm) and were cut on a cutting board into the following sections, given as distance from the ice-water interface: 0-3 cm (bottom ice layer), 3-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm. All sea-ice core sections were melted in the dark and at 4°C within 24-28 h to and to reduce negative impacts related to osmotic stress 100 ml filtered seawater (< 0.22 µm) was initially added per 1 cm section.
More detailed sampling procedure you find in the Nansen Legacy sampling protocol V10 chapter 14: Link: https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/nansenlegacy/article/view/6684 Citation: The Nansen Legacy (2022). Sampling Protocols: Version 10. The Nansen Legacy Report Series 32/2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7557/nlrs.6684

Method steps

1. Sea-ice meiofauna were identified and counted with stereo microscopy and result are given as Individuals per liter (cells/L) and Individuals per square meter (Ind/m2). Biomass (μg C Ind.-1) was only determined for alive individuals according to carbon contents for ice meiofauna taxa based on literature summarized in Ehrlich et al. (2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2020.00169), and carbon values for foraminifers were provided by de Freitas et al. (2021) for benthic species (Bolivinia sp.: 0.00875 μg C Ind.-1; Elphidium sp.: 0.126 μg C Ind.-1, https://doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.51.4.249) and Anglada-Ortiz et al. (submitted to PiO) for the pelagic species Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (0.0013 μg C Ind.-1).

N/A

1. Ectinosomidae
   rank: family
2. Chromista
   rank: kingdom
3. Litostomatea
   rank: class
4. Didiniidae
   rank: family
5. Arthropoda
   rank: phylum
6. Copepoda
   rank: class
7. Haptorida
   rank: order
8. Harpacticoida
   rank: order
9. Ciliophora
   rank: phylum
10. Animalia
    rank: kingdom
11. Xenacoelomorpha
    rank: phylum
12. Acoela
    rank: order

The data was collected during the Nansen Legacy joint cruise (JC2-2, cruise number: 2021710) from 24.08 - 25.09.2021 onboard the research vessel RV Kronprins Haakon, along a transect in the Arctic Basin from 81N to 87N.