Effects of Atlantification and changing sea?ice dynamics on zooplankton community structure and carbon flux between 2000 and 2016 in the eastern Fram Strait

The collection of zooplankton swimmers and sinkers in time-series sediment traps provides unique insight into year-round interannual trends population dynamics. These samples are particularly valuable remote difficult to access areas such as the Arctic Ocean, where from ice-covered season rare. In present study, we investigated composition based on collected by at water depths 180–280, 800–1320, 2320–2550 m, over a period 16 yr (2000–2016) Long-Term Ecological Research observatory HAUSGARTEN located eastern Fram Strait (79°N, 4°E). data showed seasonal within dominant groups including copepoda, foraminifera, ostracoda, amphipoda, pteropoda, chaetognatha. Amphipoda copepoda dominated abundance while pteropoda foraminifera were most important sinkers. Although occurrence these was relatively consistent between years, there notable variations abundance, suggesting influence various environmental conditions sea-ice dynamic lateral advection masses, for example, meltwater Atlantic water. Statistical analyses revealed correlation dipole climatic index dynamics (i.e., ice coverage concentration), well importance distance edge swimmer patterns carbon export.