Climate forcing is impacting polar marine ecosystems through increased variability of winter sea-ice dynamics, which likely influences the distribution, abundance and structure of zooplankton assemblages, and thereby trophodynamics of marine food webs. Due to the challenges of working in polar marine ecosystems, most knowledge on polar zooplankton community structure is derived from summer surveys. Here we examine the spatial distribution, abundance and community structure of macrozooplankton in relation to sea-ice and ocean-climate dynamics within the Antarctic Peninsula marine ecosystem over five consecutive winters. We compare the patterns revealed during winter with historical data collected in the same region during austral summer. Hydrographic and macrozooplankton data were collected from >100 standard stations off the northern Antarctic Peninsula during summer (2003-2011) and winter (2012-2016). Using multivariate methods, the environmental drivers and geographic structuring of the macrozooplankton community during winter and summer were investigated.

Eight taxa made up 90% of total macrozooplankton abundance in winter including Metridia species, post-larval and larval Euphausia superba, post-larval Thysanoessa macrura, Limacina helicina, Chaetognatha, Ostracoda and Radiozoa. Eight slightly different taxa including Calanoides acutus, Salpa thompsoni, T. macrura (post-larvae and larvae), Metridia spp., E. superba larvae, Chaetognatha, and Rhincalanus spp. made up 87% of the total abundance in summer. Macrozooplankton clustered into five groups in winter and seven groups in summer. Winter macrozooplankton structure was more spatially consistent among years compared to summer regardless of sea-ice conditions. Salinity, chlorophyll a biomass, upper mixed layer depth and time of day were most strongly correlated with the multivariate ordination in winter whereas salinity, phaeopigment biomass and year had the highest correlations for summer, indicating the importance of similar physical features in both seasons. However, the importance of time scales differed among seasons.

Although environmental determinants of summer and winter macrozooplankton community structure indicate that community structure and occurrence were strongly tied to regional variability of salinity and primary productivity gradients, macrozooplankton community structure is likely much more complex than only a few hydrographic variables can explain. Cluster boundaries are likely driven by dynamic locations of currents, fronts and localized eddies in any given season or year.

气候强迫正通过增加冬季海冰动力学的可变性来影响极地海洋生态系统，这可能会影响浮游动物组合的分布，丰度和结构，从而影响海洋食物网的营养动力学。由于在极地海洋生态系统中工作面临的挑战，有关极地浮游动物群落结构的大多数知识都来自夏季调查。在这里，我们研究了连续五个冬季南极半岛海洋生态系统中大型浮游动物的空间分布，丰度和群落结构与海冰和海洋气候动态的关系。我们将冬季揭示的模式与南方夏季在同一地区收集的历史数据进行了比较。水文和大浮游动物数据收集自> 在夏季（2003-2011）和冬季（2012-2016）期间，南极半岛北部有100个标准站。使用多元方法，调查了冬季和夏季大型浮游动物群落的环境驱动因素和地理结构。

冬季有八种类群构成了大型浮游动物总数的90％，包括Metridia物种，幼虫和幼虫Euphausia superba，Thysanoessa macrura，Limacina helicina，Chaetognatha，Ostracoda和Radiozoa。八个略微不同的类群包括Calanoides蝮，萨尔帕thompsoni，T. macrura（后幼虫和幼虫），Metridia属，磷虾幼虫，毛颚和Rhincalanusspp。夏季占总丰度的87％。Macrozooplankton在冬天分为五个小组，在夏天分成七个小组。与夏季相比，无论海冰条件如何，冬季大型浮游动物的结构在几年间的空间一致性都更高。盐度，叶绿素a生物量，上部混合层深度和一天中的时间与冬季的多变量排序最相关，而盐度，食虫生物量和年份与夏季的相关性最高，表明在两个季节中相似的物理特征非常重要。但是，时间尺度的重要性因季节而异。

尽管夏季和冬季大型浮游动物群落结构的环境决定因素表明，群落结构和发生与盐度和初级生产力梯度的区域变化密切相关，但是大型浮游动物群落结构可能比只有少数水文变量可以解释的复杂得多。在任何给定的季节或年份中，洋流，锋面和局部涡流的动态位置都可能驱动星团边界。