# Sympagic ecology

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{{Short description|Ecology of ice and snow}}
[[Image:Krillicekils.jpg|thumb|right|[ROV](/source/Remotely_operated_underwater_vehicle) image of [krill](/source/krill) grazing under the ice. In this image most krill swim in an upside down position directly under the ice. Only one animal (in the middle) is hovering in the open water.]]

A '''sympagic''' environment is one where water exists mostly as a solid, [ice](/source/ice), such as a [polar ice cap](/source/polar_ice_cap) or [glacier](/source/glacier). Solid [sea ice](/source/sea_ice) is permeated with channels filled with salty brine. These briny channels and the sea ice itself have its ecology, referred to as "sympagic ecology".

Residents of [temperate](/source/temperate) or [tropical](/source/tropical) climates often assume, mistakenly, that ice and snow are devoid of life. In fact, a number of varieties of [algae](/source/algae) such as [diatom](/source/diatom)s engage in [photosynthesis](/source/photosynthesis) in [arctic](/source/arctic) and [alpine](/source/alpine_climate) regions of Earth. Other energy sources include Aeolian [dust](/source/dust) and [pollen](/source/pollen) swept in from other regions. These ecosystems also include [bacteria](/source/bacterium) and [fungi](/source/fungus), as well as [animal](/source/animal)s like [flatworms](/source/Platyhelminthes) and [crustacean](/source/crustacean)s.  A number of sympagic worm species are commonly called [ice worm](/source/ice_worm)s. 

Additionally, the ocean has abundant [plankton](/source/plankton), and prolific [algal bloom](/source/algal_bloom)s occur in the polar regions each summer as well as in high mountain lakes, bringing nutrients to those parts of the ice in contact with the water. In the Arctic Ocean, ice algae accounts for close to half of the primary production during the summer months.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ehrlich |first1=Julia |last2=Schaafsma |first2=Fokje L. |last3=Bluhm |first3=Bodil A. |last4=Peeken |first4=Ilka |last5=Castellani |first5=Giulia |last6=Brandt |first6=Angelika |last7=Flores |first7=Hauke |date=2020 |title=Sympagic Fauna in and Under Arctic Pack Ice in the Annual Sea-Ice System of the New Arctic |journal=Frontiers in Marine Science |volume=7 |article-number=452 |doi=10.3389/fmars.2020.00452 |bibcode=2020FrMaS...7..452E |issn=2296-7745|doi-access=free |hdl=10037/20339 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In the spring, [krill](/source/krill) can scrape off the green lawn of [ice algae](/source/ice_algae) from the underside of the ''pack ice.''

== Endemic species in the Arctic ==
The Arctic sea ice and its related [biota](/source/Biota_(ecology)) are unique, and the year-round persistence of the ice has allowed the development of ice [endemic](/source/Endemism) species. The specialized [sympagic](/source/sympagic) community within the sea ice is found in the tiny liquid filled network of pores and brine channels or at the ice-water interface. The organisms living within the sea ice are consequently small (<1mm), and dominated by [bacteria](/source/bacteria), and unicellular plants and animals. 

[Diatoms](/source/Diatom) are considered the most important primary producers inside the ice with more than 200 species occurring in Arctic sea ice.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Arrigo |first=Kevin R. |date=2014-01-03 |title=Sea Ice Ecosystems |url=https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-010213-135103 |journal=Annual Review of Marine Science |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=439–467 |doi=10.1146/annurev-marine-010213-135103 |pmid=24015900 |bibcode=2014ARMS....6..439A |issn=1941-1405}}</ref> In addition, [flagellates](/source/Flagellate) contribute to [biodiversity](/source/biodiversity).<ref>{{Citation |last1=Krembs |first1=Christopher |title=The Role of Exopolymers in Microbial Adaptation to Sea Ice |date=2008 |work=Psychrophiles: from Biodiversity to Biotechnology |pages=247–264 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74335-4_15 |access-date=2025-09-10 |place=Berlin, Heidelberg |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |isbn=978-3-540-74334-7 |last2=Deming |first2=Jody W. |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-74335-4_15 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> [Protozoan](/source/Protozoa) and [metazoan](/source/Metazoa) ice [meiofauna](/source/meiofauna), in particular [turbellarians](/source/turbellarians), [nematodes](/source/nematodes), [crustaceans](/source/crustaceans) and [rotifers](/source/rotifers), can be abundant in all ice types year-round. In spring, [larvae](/source/Larva) and juveniles of [benthic](/source/benthic) animals (e.g. [polychaetes](/source/polychaetes) and [molluscs](/source/molluscs)) migrate into coastal fast ice to feed on the ice [algae](/source/algae) for a few weeks.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Barnes |first1=David K.A |last2=Conlan |first2=Kathleen E |date=2006-11-30 |title=Disturbance, colonization and development of Antarctic benthic communities |url=https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2006.1951 |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=362 |issue=1477 |pages=11–38 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2006.1951 |pmid=17405206 |issn=0962-8436|pmc=3227166 }}</ref>

A partially endemic [fauna](/source/fauna), comprising mainly [gammaridean](/source/gammaridean) [amphipods](/source/amphipods), thrives at the underside of ice floes. Locally and seasonally occurring at several hundred individuals per square meter, they are important mediators for particulate organic matter from the sea ice to the water column.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hop |first1=Haakon |last2=Poltermann |first2=Michael |last3=Lønne |first3=Ole Jørgen |last4=Falk-Petersen |first4=Stig |last5=Korsnes |first5=Reinert |last6=Budgell |first6=William Paul |date=2000-04-25 |title=Ice amphipod distribution relative to ice density and under-ice topography in the northern Barents Sea |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050456 |journal=Polar Biology |volume=23 |issue=5 |pages=357–367 |doi=10.1007/s003000050456 |bibcode=2000PoBio..23..357H |issn=0722-4060|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Ice-associated and [pelagic](/source/pelagic) [crustaceans](/source/crustaceans) are the major food sources for [polar cod](/source/polar_cod) (''Boreogadus saida'') that occurs in close association with sea ice and acts as the major link from the ice-related food web to seals and whales.

While previous studies of coastal and offshore sea ice provided a glimpse of the seasonal and regional abundances and the diversity of the ice-associated biota, biodiversity in these communities is virtually unknown for all groups, from bacteria to metazoans. Many [taxa](/source/taxa) are likely still undiscovered due to the methodological problems in analyzing ice samples.<ref>{{Cite bioRxiv |last1=Sim |first1=Clarence Wei Hung |last2=Ribeiro |first2=Catherine Gerikas |last3=Le Gall |first3=Florence |last4=Probert |first4=Ian |last5=Gourvil |first5=Priscillia |last6=Lovejoy |first6=Connie |last7=Vaulot |first7=Daniel |last8=Lopes dos Santos |first8=Adriana |date=2024-04-29 |title=Temporal dynamics and biogeography of sympagic and planktonic autotrophic microbial eukaryotes during the under-ice Arctic bloom |biorxiv=10.1101/2024.04.26.591324 }}</ref> The study of diversity of ice related environments is urgently required before they ultimately change with altering ice regimes and the likely loss of the multi-year ice cover.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=Victoria L. N. |last2=Grevesse |first2=Thomas |last3=Kilias |first3=Estelle S. |last4=Onda |first4=Deo F. L. |last5=Young |first5=Kirsten F. |last6=Allen |first6=Michael J. |last7=Walsh |first7=David A. |last8=Lovejoy |first8=Connie |last9=Monier |first9=Adam |date=2024-11-21 |title=Vulnerability of Arctic Ocean microbial eukaryotes to sea ice loss |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=28896 |doi=10.1038/s41598-024-77821-9 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=11582671 |pmid=39572565 |bibcode=2024NatSR..1428896J }}</ref>

==See also==
*[Polar ecology](/source/Polar_ecology)
*[Polynya](/source/Polynya)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://e-diss.uni-kiel.de/diss_1205/d1205.pdf "Studies on the Arctic pack-ice habitat and sympagic meiofauna&nbsp;– seasonal and regional variabilities"], Henrike Schünemann, [University of Kiel](/source/University_of_Kiel), dissertation, 2004
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041012212829/http://www.biosbcc.net/ocean/marinesci/04benthon/arcocean.htm The Arctic: Ocean of Ice]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041014004550/http://www.glacier.rice.edu/invitation/1_natives.html Antarctic life]
*[https://ak.water.usgs.gov/glaciology/FAQ.htm Glaciology]

Category:Aquatic ecology
Category:Water ice
Category:Subfields of ecology

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sympagic ecology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympagic_ecology) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympagic_ecology?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.