Characterization of the summer pack ice biotic community of Canada Basin

Summer pack ice biotic community of the Canada Basin was characterized during the Second Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition (CHINARE-2003, 20 August-5 September 2003). Bacteria, ice algae (diatoms and autotrophic flagellates) and protozoa (mainly heterotrophic flagellates) were observed throughout the whole ice column. The vertical distribufon of biotic taxa varied among sites.The integrated biomass ranged from 48.4 and 58.1 mg/m², with an average of 55.2 mg/m². Bacteria were the dominant of the assem-blage in pack ice, accounted for 84.1% of the integrated, and ice algae, which usually dominate the ice biotic community, constituted only 3.5% of the total. Considering the quick environmental changes of the Arctic Ocean in recent years, we suggested that quick melting of pack ice in summer was suggested, which caused such change of pack ice biotic community. The low salinity throughout the whole ice column and the continuous melting of the pack ice cumbered the formation of ice algae bloom in summer, finally resulting in the dominance of microbial food web with bacteria and heterotrophic flagellates as the most obvious characteristics. Considering the high ratio of pack ice primary production to the total found in previous studies, the quick change of pack ice community structure in summer would deeply influence the marine ecosystem of the high Arctic Ocean.