Abstract
The sea ice which covers large areas of the polar regions plays a major role in the marine ecosystem of both the Arctic and Southern Oceans. Not only do warmblooded animals depend on sea ice as a platform, but the sympagic organisms living internally within the sea ice or at the interfaces ice/snow and ice/water provide a substantial part of the total primary production of the ice covered regions. In addition sea ice organisms are an important food source for a variety of pelagic animals and may initiate phytoplankton spring blooms after ice melt by seeding effects. Sea ice organisms often are enriched by some orders of magnitude if the same volume of melted ice is compared to that of the underlying water column. Three hypotheses try to explain this discrepancy and are discussed. Investigations on the nutrient chemistry within the sea ice system and in-situ observations still are rare. Intense growth of sympagic organisms can result in nutrient deficiencies, at least in selected habitats. Advances in endoscopie methods may lead to a better understanding of the life within the sea ice.
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