Sea-ice meiofauna biodiversity from the Nansen Legacy cruise Q2 (cruise number: 2021704)

Study Extent

The data was collected during the Nansen Legacy seasonal study (Q2, cruise number: 2021704) from 27.04 - 20.05.2021 onboard the research vessel RV Kronprins Haakon, along a transect in the northern Barents Sea from 76N to 82N. 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. Rotaliida
   rank: order
2. Arthropoda
   rank: phylum
3. Litostomatea
   rank: class
4. Didiniidae
   rank: family
5. Synchaetidae
   rank: family
6. Foraminifera
   rank: phylum
7. Haptorida
   rank: order
8. Euplotida
   rank: order
9. Euplotidae
   rank: family
10. Amphipoda
    rank: order
11. Spirotrichea
    rank: class
12. Chromista
    rank: kingdom
13. Copepoda
    rank: class
14. Malacostraca
    rank: class
15. Eurotatoria
    rank: class
16. Rotifera
    rank: phylum
17. Globothalamea
    rank: class
18. Bolivinitidae
    rank: family
19. Ploima
    rank: order
20. Ciliophora
    rank: phylum
21. Animalia
    rank: kingdom
22. Calliopiidae
    rank: family

The data was collected during the Nansen Legacy seasonal study (Q2, cruise number: 2021704) from 27.04 - 20.05.2021 onboard the research vessel RV Kronprins Haakon, along a transect in the northern Barents Sea from 76N to 82N.