Long-term changes of the benthos in the Arctic area under influence of the climatic fluctuations

The Barents Sea, with the White Sea, is one of the most investigated Russian northern seas. For this reason benthos material sampled during the current century in the expeditions to the Barents Sea is important because of long-term changes in the bottom fauna in the Arctic Seas. The changes can occur under the influence of the long-term climatic fluctuations, as well as under human impact. This knowledge of the changes of the bottom fauna in the Arctic Seas can be useful in forecasting future global climatic changes. The aim of the present work was to understand how the climatic fluctuations influence the changes of the total biomass and abundance of zoobenthos. The biomass data of the 4 total benthic surveys (1924--1927; 1958--1959; 1968--1970; 1988--1993) were analyzed.