Body size is one of the most important traits of organisms that affects their behavioral life histories, physiologies, and energy requirements. For sediment-dwelling organisms, such as free-living nematodes, body size is a direct adaptation for living in sediments with a particular particle size, but other environmental factors, e.g., water depth and food availability, directly or indirectly shape nematode morphology. Nevertheless, our knowledge of meiofaunal organisms sizes still lags far behind that of other aquatic fauna, particularly for high-latitude fauna. Therefore, to gain insight into the nematode community size structure, we investigated eight stations located in the seasonal sea-ice zone north of Svalbard (Yermak Plateau, Nansen Basin, and Northern Svalbard shelf) during Arctic spring. Sample locations covered a wide depth gradient, different sea-ice concentrations and subsequent bloom stages. Our study provides previously unavailable data on nematode morphometry for this Arctic region during ecologically important spring to summer transition times. We analyzed nematode biomass, body shape and morphometric attributes, along with respective feeding types and life stage information. Our results show that differences in nematode densities, biomass and allometric attributes most likely reflect differences in the flux of organic material to the seafloor and in the biogeochemical properties of the sediments. Nematode assemblages appeared to respond to spatial gradients in ice cover duration and therefore pelagic productivity from the northern Svalbard shelf to the Yermak Plateau as evidenced by decreasing density, biomass and body size. Considering the entire community, as well as different life stages, average individual body weight decreased northward. Biomass dominance in the lower weight classes and the significantly lower abundance of long and thick morphotype nematodes observed on the Yermak Plateau than in the two other regions were striking. This was in contrast with the assemblage observed on the shelf, where prevailing environmental conditions influenced the presence of other morphotypes - markedly longer and wider organisms. Ongoing changes in sea-ice cover and primary production in the Arctic may significantly affect nematode functioning, as they are expected to have pronounced impacts on nematode morphological characteristics. In this regard, the size-based approach becomes a useful tool for detecting changes in the community and has important implications for predicting the direction of change with regard to benthic productivity.

身体大小是影响生物的行为生活史，生理和能量需求的最重要特征之一。对于诸如自由活动线虫之类的居住在沉积物中的生物而言，其体型是直接适应生活在具有特定粒径的沉积物中的，而其他环境因素（例如水深和食物供应）则直接或间接地影响了线虫的形态。然而，我们对动植物微生物大小的认识仍然远远落后于其他水生动物，特别是对于高纬度动物。因此，为了深入了解线虫群落的大小结构，我们调查了北极春季期间位于斯瓦尔巴特群岛北部的季节性海冰区（叶尔马克高原，南森盆地和斯瓦尔巴特群岛北部）的八个站点。样品位置覆盖了很大的深度梯度，不同的海冰浓度和随后的开花阶段。我们的研究提供了该地区在春季至夏季的重要生态过渡时期线虫形态学方面以前无法获得的数据。我们分析了线虫的生物量，体形和形态特征，以及各自的摄食类型和生命阶段信息。我们的结果表明，线虫密度，生物量和异速生长属性的差异最有可能反映出有机物质通向海底的通量以及沉积物的生物地球化学特征的差异。线虫组合似乎对冰盖持续时间的空间梯度有响应，因此，从斯瓦尔巴特群岛北部陆架到叶尔马克高原的中上层生产力由密度，生物量和体型的减小证明。考虑到整个社区，以及不同的生活阶段，平均个人体重向北下降。与其他两个区域相比，在耶尔马克高原观察到的体重较低的生物量优势和长而厚的形态线虫的丰度明显更低。这与在架子上观察到的组装形成对比，在架子上，流行的环境条件影响了其他形态型的存在-明显更长和更宽的生物。北极地区冰海覆盖和持续生产的持续变化可能会严重影响线虫的功能，因为预计它们将对线虫的形态特征产生明显影响。在这方面，