Arctic sea-ice ridges are biomass hotspots harboring diverse microbial communities

Müller, Oliver; Gardner, Jessie; Olsen, Lasse Mork; Salganik, Evgenii; Assmy, Philipp; Gradinger, Rolf; Bratbak, Gunnar; Hoppe, Clara J. M.; Lange, Benjamin A.; Muilwijk, Morven; Divine, Dmitry V.; Aberle, Nicole; Krause, Jeffrey W.; Reigstad, Marit; Leu, Eva; Tsagaraki, Tatiana M.; Larsen, Aud; Høyland, Knut V.; Balmonte, John Paul; Boulton, William; Dahle, Håkon; Eggers, Lena; Fong, Allison A.; Guillou, Gaël; Lebreton, Benoit; Metfies, Katja; Mock, Thomas; Petelenz, Elzbieta; Tatarek, Agnieszka; Torres-Valdés, Sinhué; Torstensson, Anders; Wiktor, Jozef; Granskog, Mats A.

doi:10.1038/s43247-026-03364-8

Arctic sea-ice ridges are biomass hotspots harboring diverse microbial communities

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Müller, Oliver, Gardner, Jessie, Olsen, Lasse Mork, Salganik, Evgenii, Assmy, Philipp, Gradinger, Rolf, Bratbak, Gunnar, Hoppe, Clara J. M., Lange, Benjamin A., Muilwijk, Morven, Divine, Dmitry V., Aberle, Nicole, Krause, Jeffrey W., Reigstad, Marit, Leu, Eva, Tsagaraki, Tatiana M., Larsen, Aud, Høyland, Knut V., Balmonte, John Paul, Boulton, William, Dahle, Håkon, Eggers, Lena, Fong, Allison A., Guillou, Gaël, Lebreton, Benoit, Metfies, Katja, Mock, Thomas, Petelenz, Elzbieta, Tatarek, Agnieszka, Torres-Valdés, Sinhué, Torstensson, Anders, Wiktor, Jozef and Granskog, Mats A. (2026) Arctic sea-ice ridges are biomass hotspots harboring diverse microbial communities. Communications Earth and Environment, 7 (1). ISSN 2662-4435

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Abstract

Although sea-ice ridges are prominent features of the Arctic Ocean, very little is known about their role as habitats and in biogeochemical cycles. Here, we show that ridges provide complex sea-ice habitats which host unique and diverse biological communities. Seasonally, ridges appear to transition from a biological repository in winter to biological hotspots in summer, surpassing algal biomass in level ice and surface waters by up to eight-fold. In summer, ridges can contain up to 80% of the total area integrated sea-ice algal biomass, emphasizing their importance in the Arctic sea-ice ecosystem. However, environmental shifts, such as meltwater infiltration and freezing inside the ridge in late summer, alter microbial communities from being predominantly autotrophic to heterotrophic. Our work provides evidence of contrasting roles of sea-ice ridges for Arctic carbon cycling in summer and shows that the habitats in the ridge interior harbor unique microbial communities, adding complexity to Arctic biodiversity. (Figure presented.)

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	general environmental science,general earth and planetary sciences ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2300/2300
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Biology Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Wolfson Centre for Advanced Environmental Microbiology
Related URLs:	https://www.scopus.com/pages/publication...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	27 May 2026 09:03
Last Modified:	27 May 2026 09:03
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/103166
DOI:	10.1038/s43247-026-03364-8

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