Marine ecosystems have been heavily affected by environmental changes, which led to shift of prokaryotic diversity and distribution, especially in the Arctic Ocean. However, how environmental changes affect prokaryotic community still unclear. Here, prokaryotic diversity, community composition and spatial distribution patterns in marine sediments from the Bering Sea to the western Arctic Ocean were surveyed. The results indicated that the lowest bacterial and archaeal diversities were observed in the western Arctic Ocean. Moreover, the prokaryotic richness and diversity showed strong correlation (R²=0.31∼0.83, P<0.05) with heavy metals (such as Cu, Zn, Ni and As). The contents of Ni and As represented a range with in which biological effects occur occasionally in the Bering Strait, but concentrations of Cu, Zn, Ni and As in the western Arctic Ocean showed a probable effect range with in which adverse biological effects occasionally or frequently occur. Furthermore, as geographical distance increased archaeal community similarity decreased faster than bacteria. The abundances of Gammaproteobacteria, Firmicutes and Thaumarchaeota significantly increased from the Bering Sea to the western Arctic Ocean. Conversely, much lower abundances of Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Crenarchaeota were observed in the western Arctic Ocean. In addition, all environmental could explain 73.8% and 85.1% bacterial and archaeal variations, respectively. And heavy metals could independently explain 40.3% and 30.4% community variation for archaea and bacteria, respectively. This study emphasized effects of heavy metals on prokaryotic diversities and distribution patterns in marine sediments, which were helpful to deep understand microbial variation under environmental changes.

海洋生态系统受到环境变化的严重影响，导致原核生物多样性和分布发生变化，尤其是在北冰洋。然而，环境变化如何影响原核生物群落仍不清楚。在这里，调查了从白令海到北冰洋西部的海洋沉积物中的原核生物多样性、群落组成和空间分布格局。结果表明，在北冰洋西部观察到最低的细菌和古细菌多样性。此外，原核生物的丰富度和多样性表现出很强的相关性（R ² =0.31～0.83，P<0.05) 与重金属（如 Cu、Zn、Ni 和 As）。Ni和As的含量代表了白令海峡偶尔发生生物效应的范围，而北冰洋西部的Cu、Zn、Ni和As的浓度显示了可能的影响范围，其中偶尔或经常发生不利的生物效应发生。此外，随着地理距离的增加，古菌群落的相似性比细菌下降得更快。从白令海到北冰洋西部，Gammaproteobacteria、Firmicutes 和 Thaumarchaeota 的丰度显着增加。相反，在北冰洋西部观察到的 Alphaproteobacteria、Bacteroidetes 和 Crenarchaeota 的丰度要低得多。此外，所有环境可以分别解释 73.8% 和 85.1% 的细菌和古细菌变异。重金属可以分别解释古细菌和细菌 40.3% 和 30.4% 的群落变异。本研究强调重金属对海洋沉积物中原核生物多样性和分布格局的影响，有助于深入了解环境变化下的微生物变异。