bThe Adventfjorden time series station (IsA) in Isfjorden, West Spitsbergen, Norway, was sampled frequently from December 2011 to December 2012. The community composition of microbial eukaryotes (size, 0.45 to 10 m) from a depth of 25 m was determined using 454 sequencing of the 18S V4 region amplified from both DNA and RNA. The compositional changes throughout the year were assessed in relation to in situ fjord environmental conditions. Size fractionation analyses of chlorophyll a showed that the photosynthetic biomass was dominated by small cells (<10 m) most of the year but that larger cells dominated during the spring and summer. The winter and early-spring communities were more diverse than the spring and summer/autumn communities. Dinophyceae were predominant throughout the year. The Arctic Micromonas ecotype was abundant mostly in the early-bloom and fall periods, whereas heterotrophs, such as marine stramenopiles (MASTs), Picozoa, and the parasitoid marine alveolates (MALVs), displayed higher relative abundance in the winter than in other seasons. Our results emphasize the extreme seasonality of Arctic microbial eukaryotic communities driven by the light regime and nutrient availability but point to the necessity of a thorough knowledge of hydrography for full understanding of their succession and variability. Microbial eukaryotes are critically important for the functioning of marine ecosystems as primary producers (1, 2) and consumers (3, 4) of carbon, as well as maintainers of biogeochemical cycles (5-7). In Arctic waters, where marine planktonic cyanobacteria are infrequent, marine microbial eukaryotes are the predominant primary producers (8-10). In spite of their importance, our knowledge of the diversity and role of picosized (0.2 to 2 m) and nanosized (2 to 20 m) (11) eukaryotic plankton is still limited in extreme areas.High-Arctic regions are characterized by extreme seasonality in light conditions, with 24 h of sunlight in summer giving way to several months of complete darkness in winter. The cold, dark polar night period at high latitudes strongly limits the activity of autotrophic organisms, and Arctic species in general have to adjust to the timing of seasonal events (12). The few studies performed during the Arctic winter-spring transition suggest a strong seasonal response by the microbial community to irradiance (13)(14)(15). Most studies of Arctic microbial eukaryotes have so far utilized traditional identification techniques, such as microscopy, and focused on bloom-forming pelagic protists (4, 16-18). The development of molecular techniques, especially high-throughput sequencing (HTS), has made it possible to study the diversity and assemblages of pico-and nanosized eukaryotic plankton as well (19)(20)(21)(22). This has resulted in several diversity surveys of microbial eukaryotes from the Arctic Ocean and the shelf seas (23-27). Pico-and nanosized planktons are now known to govern major processes in the oceans to a larger degree than previously assumed (6,7,28,29). Furthermore, 18S ...

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The temporal and spatial distribution of larval plankton of high latitudes is poorly understood. The objective of this work is to identify the occurrence and abundance of pelagic bivalve larvae within a high Arctic fjord (Adventfjorden, Svalbard) and to reveal their seasonal dynamics in relation to environmental variables-temperature, salinity and chlorophyll a-between December 2011 and January 2013. We applied a combination of DNA barcoding of mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA and morphological analysis to identify the bivalve larvae found within the plankton and demonstrate a strong seasonality in the occurrence of bivalve larvae, largely coinciding with periods of primary productivity. Seasonal occurrences of bivalve larval species differ from those known for other populations across species' biogeographic distribution ranges. Serripes groenlandicus, which is of circum-Arctic distribution, demonstrated a later occurrence than Mya truncata or Hiatella arctica, which are of predominantly boreal or cosmopolitan distribution, respectively. S. groenlandicus larvae demonstrate the most pronounced response to seasonality, with the shortest presence in the water column. Establishing latitudinal differences in the occurrence of bivalve larvae enhances our understanding of how reproductive traits of marine invertebrates may respond to climate-driven seasonal shifts in the occurrence of primary productivity.

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The 'Declaration concerning the prevention of unregulated high seas fishing in the central Arctic Ocean' signed by the Arctic 5 nations, limits unregulated high seas fishing in the central part of the Arctic Ocean, and holds potential social, economic and political impacts for numerous stakeholders. In this paper, the four Interim Measures in the Declaration are discussed and what value these measures bring beyond the existing international agreements is explored. It is found that even though the Declaration fills a gap in the management of potential fish stocks in the central Arctic Ocean, adopts an appropriate precautionary approach and encourages joint research activities, there are both opportunities and challenges connected to its implementation. The most valuable and urgent interim measure is that of joint scientific cooperation, which will facilitate more region-specific research and an increased understanding of the fisheries as well as the broader Arctic environment. Furthermore, the research generated by this measure will provide an important decision base for both regulation and management of human activity in the Arctic.

The importance of gelatinous zooplankton in marine systems is increasingly recognized, but little is known about its role in the Arctic pelagic food web or about the way patchiness affects these ecological interactions. We studied the influence of the spatial patchiness of predators and prey on the predation impact of the Arctic ctenophore Mertensia ovum, using a combination of feeding experiments, gut content analyses and net sampling, together with aggregation estimations. A nonlinear functional response was detected for M. ovum feeding on Calanus spp. Ingestion rates at low prey densities were comparable with previous studies (1 ± 0.2 prey predator −1 h −1 ), but increased significantly at higher prey densities (6 ± 2.5 prey predator −1 h −1 ). We estimated that M. ovum is capable of consuming on average 1.4% d −1 of the Calanus spp. population in the whole water column, or 33% in the upper 20 m layer, when assuming even distributions of prey and predators. Most importantly, ingestion rates did not significantly decline at high predator aggregations; hence, predation impact increased considerably when predator and prey aggregations were considered. However, feeding saturation was observed at high prey densities, suggesting that copepods may create a refuge by forming dense patches. These are significant consumption rates given that Calanus spp. comprises an important part of the Arctic marine food web. Studying the patterns of fine-scale distribution of these gelatinous predators should be emphasized in order to adequately model prey−predator interactions.

The thecosome pteropods Limacina helicina and L. retroversa are important contributors to the zooplankton community in high-latitude environments but little is known about their distribution and life cycle under polar conditions. We collected the early life stages (< 1 mm) of the thecosome population in 2012 and 2013 at a bi-weekly to monthly resolution in fjord highly influenced by Arctic waters as well as Atlantic inflows (Adventfjorden, Svalbard, 78°N), together with environmental parameters. L. retroversa only occurred episodically, in association with the inflow of Atlantic water, with low numbers and random size distributions. This suggests that this boreal species does not fulfill its life cycle in Adventfjorden. In contrast, young specimens of L. helicina were present during the entire study. Veligers hatched in late summer/autumn and measured 0.14 mm on average. They grew with rates of 0.0006 mm day −1 over the 10-11 months of development. Only thereafter, growth accelerated by one order of magnitude and maximal rates were reached in autumn (0.0077 mm day −1 ). Our results indicate that L. helicina reaches a size of 1 mm after approximately 1.5 years in Adventfjorden. We therefore suggest that L. helicina overwinters the first year as a small juvenile and that it needs at least 2 years to reach an adult size of 5 mm in Adventfjorden. This reveals an complex and delicate aspect of the life-cycle of L. helicina and further research is needed to determine if it makes the population especially vulnerable towards climate changes.