The fluctuations in annual quantity and prevernal reserve of biogens 

 observed in Arctic waters depend primarily on the intensity of the vital 

 activity of the plankton. The vernal development of phytoplankton , in any 

 case in the Barents Sea, is not limited by the reserve of biogens. For 

 example, in 1958, with the minimal winter reserve of nitrate nitrogen 

 observed in 1949-1959, a maximal brood of phytoplankton was observed. The 

 development of phytoplankton begins at minimal temperature and maximum 

 vertical stability of the euphotic layer. However, by summer the reserve 

 of biogens is exhausted, and the shortage begins to inhibit the develop- 

 ment of phytoplankton. Only in regions of abundant bird population, due 

 to the local enrichment of the littoral waters with biogens, does stable 

 production of bacterio- and phytoplankton continue throughout the entire 

 spring and summer (Golovkin, Zelickman, 1965; Zelickman, Golovkin, 1972). 



The greatest May peak in development of phytoplankton is that of 

 Phaeocystis ; the April and July peaks formed by the diatoms partially 

 merge with it; the development of the peridinia is significant in June and 

 September. The greatest maximum is that of Phaeocystis pouchetii : over 

 7.8 billion cl/m3 (Roukhiyaynen , 1960), while the scale of the April-May 

 peak of diatoms is less: over 800 million cl/m^ in the 0-50 m level. 

 The most productive waters in the spring are the Arctic and mixed waters. 

 In the summer, the oceanic complex of phytoplankton is replaced by a 

 neritic complex. 



The Calanus and euphausiids, which make up the basis of the winter 

 biomass of zooplankton, spend October through February at depths of over 

 150 m. The locus of the winter benthic concentrations of crustaceans and, 

 correspondingly, the locus of their March-April rise, forces us to think 

 that the basis of the Barents-Sea superpopulation of these species is the 

 indigenous population. This is confirmed by morphometric analysis of the 

 stages of development (Zelickman, 1958, 1968; Zelickman, Golovkin, 1972; 

 Nesmelova, 1966, 1968). In the Barents Sea, in any case to the east of 

 the meridian of the Kola (33°30'E), over 70% of the population of plankton 

 in the Arctic, local and neritic waters, consists of the autochthonous 

 population. 



With respect to time, the first consumers of the phytoplankton are 

 the nauplii of the barnacles. Reproduction of the barnacles heralds the 

 beginning of the biologic spring in the Arctic community. The number of 

 Balanus nauplii appearing on the southeast shore of the Barents Sea, 

 usually by the 20th of March, increases within a period of a few days 

 to 40-50'lo3 per cubic meter in the 0-10 m layer. The reproduction of the 

 Balanus is independent of water temperature. The metamorphosis of the 

 second nauplial stage into the third, the intensive consumer of phyto- 

 plankton, coincides with the increase in the number of diatoms. The 

 barnacles "can wait for" the appearance of suitable conditions for repro- 

 duction; embryos which have completed their development sometimes wait for 

 12-18 days in their capsules before the appearance of the nauplii in 

 plankton. The barnacles precede the spawning of the other massive species, 

 which allows the larvae to avoid competition during the most vulnerable 

 stages of ontogenesis. 



55 



