Trophic Relationships at High Arctic Ice Edges

Abstract

At ice edges in the Canadian High Arctic, seabirds and marine mammals eat arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) and to a lesser extent, zooplankton (calanoid copepods and Parathemisto) and ice-associated amphipods. Cod eat ice-associated amphipods, other ice-associated taxa (harpacticoid and cyclopoid copepods), and zooplankton. Calanoid copepods, Parathemisto, and the ice-associated amphipods studied (Onisimus glacialis, Apherusa glacialis, Gammarus wilkitzkü) all eat primarily diatom algae characteristic of the under-ice flora. From this information, a food web at the ice edge is constructed.Key words: trophic relationships, arctic, ice edges, seabirds, marine mammals, cod, epontic community, zooplankton