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Soil life supports the functioning and biodiversity of terrestrial ecosystems. Springtails (Collembola) are among the most abundant soil arthropods regulating soil fertility and flow of energy through above- and belowground food webs. However, the global distribution of springtail diversity and density, and how these relate to energy fluxes remains unknown. Here, using a global dataset representing 2470 sites, we estimate the total soil springtail biomass at 27.5 megatons carbon, which is threefold higher than wild terrestrial vertebrates, and record peak densities up to 2 million individuals per square meter in the tundra. Despite a 20-fold biomass difference between the tundra and the tropics, springtail energy use (community metabolism) remains similar across the latitudinal gradient, owing to the changes in temperature with latitude. Neither springtail density nor community metabolism is predicted by local species richness, which is high in the tropics, but comparably high in some temperate forests and even tundra. Changes in springtail activity may emerge from latitudinal gradients in temperature, predation and resource limitation in soil communities. Contrasting relationships of biomass, diversity and activity of springtail communities with temperature suggest that climate warming will alter fundamental soil biodiversity metrics in different directions, potentially restructuring terrestrial food webs and affecting soil functioning. The article is an outcome of the #GlobalCollembola community initiative that is voluntarily supported by researchers around the world. Data collection and analysis was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (19-74-00154 to A.P.) and by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (493345801 to A.P. and 192626868—SFB 990 to S.S.). We acknowledge support by the Open Access Publication Funds of the Göttingen University. The following funding bodies provided support for individual contributors: ARC SRIEAS Grant SR200100005 Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future to S.L.C., Slovak Scientific Grant Agency VEGA 1/0438/22 to Ľ.K., RFBR 19-516-60002 to N.A.K., Carl Tryggers Stiftelse för Vetenskaplig Forskning and Qatar Petroleum to J.M.A., BIO 27 (2013-2014)-MAGyP and PICTO 2084 (2012)-ANPCyT to V.B., DAAD-19-10 and MSM200962001 to T.C., grant TE, PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2019-0358 to C.F., NWO grant 821.01.015 to O.F., National Natural Sciences Foundation of China No 41471037 and 41871042 to M.G., BIO 27 (2013-2014), MAGyP; PICT 2084 (2012), FONCyT to D.F.G., NRF South African National Antarctic Programme grant 110734 to M.G., Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), EcoEnergy Innovation Initiative under the Office of Energy Research and Development, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to I.T.H., L.A.V. and L.R., Independent Research Fund Denmark grant no. DFF-4002-00384 to M.H., Estonian Science Foundation G9145 to M.I., SA-France bilateral grant to C.J., SA (NRF)/Russia (RFBR) Joint Science and Technology Research Collaboration project no. 19-516-60002 (FRBR) and no. 118904 (NRF) to M.P. and C.J., European Research Council (ERC), European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 677232; to N.E.); iDiv, German Research Foundation (DFG–FZT 118, 202548816) to M.J. and N.E., French National Agency of Research (ANR) (JASSUR research project; ANR-12-VBDU-0011), «Ministère de l’Agriculture et de la Pêche» and «Ministère de l’Education Nationale de la Recherche et de la Technologie» (ACTA programme), «Ministère de l’Aménagement du Territoire et de l’Environnement» (Pnetox programme), EU-funded project, ECOGEN QLK5-CT-2002-01666 (www.ecogen.dk), “Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Énergie” (BIOINDICATEUR 2, BIOTECHNOSOL), ANDRA and GISFI (www.gisfi.fr) to S.J., GRR SER-BIODIV (Région Normandie, France) to MCha, ESF9258, B02 to A.K., Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant no. 2018CDXYCH0014) to D.L., DFG 316045089 to J.L., Massey University Research Fund grant to M.A.M., DFG SCHE 376/38-2 to M.M.P., grant from the Austria Academy of Science: Heritage_2020-043_Modeling-Museum to P.Q., Slovak Scientific Grant Agency: VEGA Nos. 1/0441/03 and 1/3267/06 to N.R., Higher Education Commission of Pakistan to M.I.R., RSF 21-74-00126 to R.A.S., Austrian Federal Government and European Union (Rural Development 2014-2020) to J.S., АААА-А17-122040600025-2 to A.A.T., Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development—CNPq (grant no. 152717/2016-1) to B.R.W., 309030/2018-8 to D.Z. and 305426/2018-4 to B.C.B., National Natural Science Foundation of China (31970434, 31772491) to N.N.G., Research and Innovation Support Foundation of Santa Catarina (FAPESC) (6.309/2011-6/FAPESC) and the CNPq (563251/2010-7/CNPq) to L.C.I.O.F., O.K.-F., the Latvian Council of Science Grants no. 90.108, 93.140, 96.0110, 01.0344 to E.J., CNPq for the Research Productivity Grant (305939/2018-1) to D.B., FPI-MICINN grant in the project INTERCAPA (CGL2014-56739-R) to P.H, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to Z.L., Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary TKP2021-NKTA-43 to D.W. Authors are grateful to Penelope Greenslade for providing the literature on Australian Collembola communities. Authors are grateful to Frans Janssens for providing the global checklist of Collembola.

A longstanding question in evolutionary biology is how natural selection and environmental pressures shape the mitochondrial genomic architectures of organisms. Mitochondria play a pivotal role in cellular respiration and aerobic metabolism, making their genomes functionally highly constrained. Evaluating selective pressures on mitochondrial genes can provide functional and ecological insights into the evolution of organisms. Collembola (springtails) are an ancient hexapod group that includes the oldest terrestrial arthropods in the fossil record, and that are closely associated with soil environments. Of interest is the diversity of habitat stratification preferences (life forms) exhibited by different species within the group. To understand whether signals of positive selection are linked to the evolution of life forms, we analysed 32 published Collembola mitogenomes in a phylomitogenomic framework. We found no evidence that signatures of selection are correlated with the evolution of novel life forms, but rather that mutations have accumulated as a function of time. Our results highlight the importance of nuclear-mitochondrial interactions in the evolution of collembolan life forms and that mitochondrial genomic data should be interpreted with caution, as complex selection signals may complicate evolutionary inferences.

A new species of Setanodosa, S. jacquesi sp. nov. is described from the Western Cape (South Africa). It differs from other species of the genus by its unique shocking red pigmentation, the number of vesicles in the post antennal organ, and the number of clavate tenent hairs on the tibiotarsi. A comparative table of the world Setanodosa and a key of Brachystomellidae species known from South Africa are provided. DNA barcoding results are provided for several Brachystomellidae species from South Africa, Australia and the sub-Antarctic to support our findings. It shows that a species provisionally identified as Brachystomella cf. platensis is unambiguously present in both South Africa and Australia.

Species of the genera of the Cryptopygus complex in South Africa are morphologically revised. Five new species of the genus Cryptopygus Willem, 1902 s. s. and one new species of the genus Isotominella Delamare Deboutteville, 1948 are described. Cryptopygus abulbussp. nov. and C. bulbussp. nov. have only one chaeta on the anterior side of dens and no chaetae on the anterior side of manubrium, the latter species being characterized by the presence of a bulb at apex of antennae; C. inflatussp. nov. shows a rare combination of eight ocelli on each side of the head with a tridentate mucro; C. longisensillussp. nov. has five long s-chaetae on the fifth abdominal segment; C. postantennalissp. nov. is unique by having a very long and slender postantennal organ with strong inner denticles; Isotominella laterochaetasp. nov. is the second member of the genus and differs from the type species by many more anterior chaetae on the manubrium and the presence of chaetae on ventral side of metathorax. The genera are discussed and a key to all species of the Cryptopygus complex recorded in South Africa is given. The focus is on the Western Cape Province where the complex is the most diverse and sampling more complete than in other provinces of South Africa.

Human‐mediated transport of species outside their natural range is a rapidly growing threat to biodiversity, particularly for island ecosystems that have evolved in isolation. The genetic structure underpinning island populations will largely determine their response to increased transport and thus help to inform biosecurity management. However, this information is severely lacking for some groups, such as the soil fauna. We therefore analysed the phylogeographic structure of an indigenous and an invasive springtail species (Collembola: Poduromorpha), each distributed across multiple remote sub‐Antarctic islands, where human activity is currently intensifying. For both species, we generated a genome‐wide SNP data set and additionally analysed all available COI barcodes. Genetic differentiation in the indigenous springtail Tullbergia bisetosa is substantial among (and, to a lesser degree, within) islands, reflecting low dispersal and historic population fragmentation, while COI patterns reveal ancestral signatures of postglacial recolonization. This pronounced geographic structure demonstrates the key role of allopatric divergence in shaping the region's diversity and highlights the vulnerability of indigenous populations to genetic homogenization via human transport. For the invasive species Hypogastrura viatica, nuclear genetic structure is much less apparent, particularly for islands linked by regular shipping, while diverged COI haplotypes indicate multiple independent introductions to each island. Thus, human transport has likely facilitated this species’ persistence since its initial colonization, through the ongoing introduction and inter‐island spread of genetic variation. These findings highlight the different evolutionary consequences of human transport for indigenous and invasive soil species. Crucially, both outcomes demonstrate the need for improved intraregional biosecurity among remote island systems, where the policy focus to date has been on external introductions.

SummaryHere we introduce the Soil BON Foodweb Team, a cross-continental collaborative network that aims to monitor soil animal communities and food webs using consistent methodology at a global scale. Soil animals support vital soil processes via soil structure modification, direct consumption of dead organic matter, and interactions with microbial and plant communities. Soil animal effects on ecosystem functions have been demonstrated by correlative analyses as well as in laboratory and field experiments, but these studies typically focus on selected animal groups or species at one or few sites with limited variation in environmental conditions. The lack of comprehensive harmonised large-scale soil animal community data including microfauna, mesofauna, and macrofauna, in conjunction with related soil functions, limits our understanding of biological interactions in soil communities and how these interactions affect ecosystem functioning. To provide such data, the Soil BON Foodweb Team invites researchers worldwide to use a common methodology to address six long-term goals: (1) to collect globally representative harmonised data on soil micro-, meso-, and macrofauna communities; (2) to describe key environmental drivers of soil animal communities and food webs; (3) to assess the efficiency of conservation approaches for the protection of soil animal communities; (4) to describe soil food webs and their association with soil functioning globally; (5) to establish a global research network for soil biodiversity monitoring and collaborative projects in related topics; (6) to reinforce local collaboration networks and expertise and support capacity building for soil animal research around the world. In this paper, we describe the vision of the global research network and the common sampling protocol to assess soil animal communities and advocate for the use of standard methodologies across observational and experimental soil animal studies. We will use this protocol to conduct soil animal assessments and reconstruct soil food webs on the sites included in the global soil biodiversity monitoring network, Soil BON, allowing us to assess linkages among soil biodiversity, vegetation, soil physico-chemical properties, and ecosystem functions. In the present paper, we call for researchers especially from countries and ecoregions that remain underrepresented in the majority of soil biodiversity assessments to join us. Together we will be able to provide science-based evidence to support soil biodiversity conservation and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems.

Soil life supports the functioning and biodiversity of terrestrial ecosystems1, 2. Springtails (Collembola) are among the most abundant soil animals regulating soil fertility and flow of energy through above- and belowground food webs3–5. However, the global distribution of springtail diversity and density, and how these relate to energy fluxes remains unknown. Here, using a global dataset collected from 2,470 sites, we estimate total soil springtail biomass at 29 Mt carbon (threefold higher than wild terrestrial vertebrates6) and record peak densities up to 2 million individuals per m² in the Arctic. Despite a 20-fold biomass difference between tundra and the tropics, springtail energy use (community metabolism) remains similar across the latitudinal gradient, owing to the increase in temperature. Neither springtail density nor community metabolism were predicted by local species richness, which was highest in the tropics, but comparably high in some temperate forests and even tundra. Changes in springtail activity may emerge from latitudinal gradients in temperature, predation7, 8, and resource limitation7, 9, 10 in soil communities. Contrasting temperature responses of biomass, diversity and activity of springtail communities suggest that climate warming will alter fundamental soil biodiversity metrics in different directions, potentially restructuring terrestrial food webs and affecting major soil functions.

Aim: We investigated turnover and richness in Antarctic springtails to understand large scale patterns in soil faunal diversity and how these are altered by biological invasions.Location: Antarctica and the Southern Ocean Islands.Taxon: Collembola (springtails). Methods: We developed a database of all springtail species recorded from the Antarctic region. The relationship of species richness and turnover to high‐resolution environmental data was explored using generalized linear models and generalized dissimilarity models, and compared among indigenous and introduced species. Endemicity and species turnover were assessed using beta‐diversity and multi‐site zeta diversity metrics to explore whether introduced species have homogenized assemblages across the region. Results: Indigenous, endemic and introduced species richness covaried positively with temperature. Endemic richness was further related to thermal heterogeneity,and introduced species richness to human occupancy. Indigenous and introduced species richness covaried positively. Species turnover across the region was high,and the introduction of non‐indigenous species further differentiated assemblages.Species similarity between sites was not related to distance, nor was geographic isolation correlated with species richness. Assemblage turnover was influenced by the area and temperature range of islands. Main conclusions: Energy availability appears to be the primary covariate of species richness, with human presence additionally influencing introduced species richness,in agreement with other soil‐dwelling taxa. Dispersal limitation surprisingly does not seem to be important in structuring these assemblages, nor does island age appear to affect richness; this may in part reflect the severe glacial history of the region. The differentiating effect of introduced species on assemblages suggests that anthropogenic introductions originate from distinct source pools, challenging common assumptions for the Antarctic. Positive covariance between indigenous and introduced species richness accords with the “rich get richer” hypothesis. Thus, the most biotically diverse terrestrial areas of Antarctica may be the most prone to future biological invasion. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

The genus Bagnallella Salmon is restored and given a diagnosis. It takes an intermediate position between Proisotoma Börner and Cryptopygus Willem complexes and is characterized by the separation of the two last abdominal segments (like in Proisotoma) and 3 and 5 s-chaetae on the fourth and fifth abdominal segments (like in Cryptopygus and its allies). A list of and key to species belonging to Bagnallella is given. Bagnallella bisetacomb. nov., B. dubiacomb. nov., B. sedecimoculatacomb. nov., and B. tenellacomb. nov. are commented and redescribed. Morphology of Bagnallella davidi (Barra), comb. nov. is described from the specimens from South Africa. So far B. davidi appears to be a complex of forms differing in size of the furca and macrochaetae. Two types of strongly modified males were found and described. Antennae, ventral side of abdomen, posterior edge of abdominal tergites, and mandibles are affected with epitoky. The nature of the discovered strong polymorphism is unclear.

Biological invasions have significant ecological and economic impacts. Much attention is therefore focussed on predicting establishment and invasion success. Trait-based approaches are showing much promise, but are mostly restricted to investigations of plants. Although the application of these approaches to animals is growing rapidly, it is rare for arthropods and restricted mostly to investigations of thermal tolerance. Here we study the extent to which desiccation tolerance and its phenotypic plasticity differ between introduced (nine species) and indigenous (seven species) Collembola, specifically testing predictions of the 'ideal weed' and 'phenotypic plasticity' hypotheses of invasion biology. We do so on the F2 generation of adults in a full factorial design across two temperatures, to elicit desiccation responses, for the phenotypic plasticity trials. We also determine whether basal desiccation resistance responds to thermal laboratory natural selection. We first show experimentally that acclimation to different temperatures elicits changes to cuticular structure and function that are typically associated with water balance, justifying our experimental approach. Our main findings reveal that basal desiccation resistance differs, on average, between the indigenous and introduced species, but that this difference is weaker at higher temperatures, and is driven by particular taxa, as revealed by phylogenetic generalised least squares approaches. By contrast, the extent or form of phenotypic plasticity does not differ between the two groups, with a 'hotter is better' response being most common. Beneficial acclimation is characteristic of only a single species. Laboratory natural selection had little influence on desiccation resistance over 8-12 generations, suggesting that environmental filtering rather than adaptation to new environments may be an important factor influencing Collembola invasions.

Trait–environment interactions have contributed to the remarkable plant radiations in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of southern Africa. Whether such interactions have also resulted in the diversification of the invertebrate fauna, independently of direct associations with plants is, however, not clear. One candidate where this may be the case is the unusually diverse Collembola genus Seira. Including 89 species in the CFR, many of which are localised habitat specialists, this genus includes many species inhabiting the warm, dry fynbos shrubland—a habitat atypical of usually desiccation-sensitive Collembola. Here, we investigate whether desiccation tolerance may have contributed to the considerable diversity of Seira in the CFR. First, we demonstrate, by measuring vapour pressure deficits (VPD) of the species’ microhabitats (fynbos shrubland and moister Afrotemperate Forests), that the fynbos shrublands are dry environments (mean ± S.E. maximum VPD 5.2 ± 0.1 kPa) compared with the Afrotemperate Forest patches (0.3 ± 0.02 kPa) during the summer activity period of Seira. Then we show that Seira species living in these shrublands are more desiccation tolerant (mean ± S.E. survival time at 76% relative humidity: 74.3 ± 3.3 h) than their congeners in the cooler, moister Afrotemperate Forests (34.3 ± 2.8 h), and compared with Collembola species globally (3.7 ± 0.2 h). These results, and a previous demonstration of pronounced thermal tolerance in the fynbos shrubland species, suggest that the diversity of Seira in the CFR is at least partly due to pronounced desiccation and thermal tolerance, which has enabled species in the genus to exploit the hot and dry habitats of the CFR.

At the time of writing, 466 alien terrestrial invertebrate species have been reported as being established in South Africa. The most diverse groups within this fauna are the insects (330 species; 70.8%), followed by the arachnids (41; 8.8%), annelids (38; 8.2%) and molluscs (33; 7.1%), together accounting for 95.3% of the total. Within the insects, the Hemiptera are the most species-rich group, followed by the Coleoptera. Most of the invasive arachnid species are mites (24 species), many of which are important agricultural pests. The high number of invasive earthworm taxa (38 species) is of concern, given the impacts that alien earthworms have elsewhere in the world. The majority of alien invertebrates were accidentally introduced as contaminants or stowaways, and although exact dates of arrival of most of these remain unknown, many were present over 100 years ago. Also included in the fauna are 95 species of biological control agents that were almost all deliberately introduced and have contributed significantly to the control of 34 invasive plant species (as well as to the control of a few invasive invertebrates). Of the plant species that have been subjected to biological control, 14 are now considered to be under complete control. Most biological control agents are recent introductions and their rates of release are increasing. The most severe economic impacts of accidentally introduced species are as pest species on crops and these can cause considerable losses. These species mostly establish in agricultural habitats dominated by alien plants, or in disturbed and urbanised areas, although some have established in native vegetation. The cryptic nature of many alien invertebrates makes early detection difficult and many probably remained unreported, perhaps decades after their arrival. Regional taxonomic expertise is lacking for many invertebrate groups, so that even native taxa are poorly described. The wider ecological impacts of most alien terrestrial invertebrates remain very poorly known.

Aim The extraordinary diversity of plants across the Cape Floristic Region is characterized by considerable species turnover among sites. Phytophagous insects show similarly high turnover, but their patterns are closely coupled to those of their hosts. If the mechanisms underlying high plant turnover are not unique to plants, similar patterns of turnover should also be seen in non‐herbivorous arthropod groups. We tested this hypothesis using new data for the Collembola fauna of the Fynbos biome. Location The south‐western Cape, South Africa. Taxon Springtails (Hexapoda: Collembola). Methods We sampled springtails from six sites over two seasons. Species richness was compared with expected values from other studies worldwide given the environmental characteristics of the sites sampled. Nestedness and turnover components of beta diversity were calculated and compared against beta diversity patterns of springtails across Europe. Results A total of 114 morphospecies from 14 families was collected. Species richness of Fynbos sites ranged from 14 to 31 species, which was not significantly different to that previously reported for non‐Fynbos locations and generally within expectations given the temperature, rainfall and productive energy of each site. Beta diversity was high across all pairwise comparisons of Fynbos sites and dominated by species replacement rather than assemblage nestedness. Relative to the distance between sites, Fynbos assemblages, with a median inter‐site distance of 140 km, showed beta diversity substantially higher than in European assemblages, which had a median inter‐site distance of 1,270 km. Main conclusions Alpha diversity of Fynbos Collembola assemblages is in keeping with species richness expectations. By contrast, beta diversity is high given the small distances among sites and is characterized predominantly by species turnover. These patterns of unremarkable alpha diversity, but high turnover among sites are comparable to many Fynbos plant groups. The mechanisms giving rise to high beta diversity of the plants may also have led to high diversity in other taxa.

The sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands (PEIs) constitute South Africa’s most remote territory. Despite this, they have not been spared from biological invasions. Here, we review what is known about invasions to the PEIs for terrestrial taxa (vertebrates, invertebrates, plants and microbes), freshwater taxa and marine taxa. Currently, Marion Island is home to 46 alien species, of which 29 are known to be invasive (i.e. they are alien species that have established and spread on the island). Prince Edward Island, which has no permanent human settlement and is visited only infrequently, has significantly fewer alien species: only eight alien species are known from Prince Edward Island, of which seven are known to be invasive. The House Mouse (Mus musculus), which occurs on Marion Island, can be considered the most detrimental invader to the islands; it impacts on plants, insects and seabirds, which result in changes to ecosystem functioning. The impacts of other terrestrial invaders are less well understood. At present, no invasive freshwater or marine taxa are known from the PEIs. We conclude by discussing how invasion threats to the PEIs are changing and how the amelioration of the climate of the islands may increase invasion threats to both terrestrial and marine habitats.

Organic orchards may have higher biodiversity and levels of ecosystem services compared to conventionally managed orchards. However, it is not well-understood how management decisions within organic orchards alter biotic communities and ecosystem services. The simultaneous provision of individual ecosystem services and mitigation of disservices is crucial for organic growers who cannot replace natural regulatory processes by artificial inputs. This study addresses one of the major constraints for organic fruit production in South Africa, namely the availability of strategies for pest control and nutrient management in soils. Partly due to these constraints, organic certification of deciduous fruits is very uncommon in South Africa and limited our selection of study plots. A field experiment on a single farm was established to study the impact of a treatment with dead organic mulch compared to controls on the composition of biotic communities, the simultaneous provision of ecosystem services, and the mitigation of disservices in five organic deciduous fruit orchards in the Western Cape province. Mulching did not significantly reduce weed cover or alter the taxonomic composition of weed communities, but affected soil organisms. Mulched subplots had significantly higher densities of Collembola and phytophagous nematodes and lower microbial activity and woodlice numbers. Independent of mulch treatment, both orchard type (conventional: apricot and organic: apricot, peach, plum, and quince) and weed cover had pronounced effects on the composition of biotic communities and ecosystem service and disservice potentials. The community composition of plants, microbes and web-building spiders differed significantly between organically and conventionally managed plots. The composition of communities and levels of ecosystem service and disservice potentials also differed significantly between organic orchards of different fruit type. Two potential pest groups (phytophagous nematodes and arthropods) were most abundant in peach subplots with high weed cover and tree age and least abundant in conventionally managed apricot plots. These results emphasize the crucial importance to consider weed-microbe-animal interactions when developing management practices in organic orchards. Management decisions in organic orchards hold the potential to affect biotic communities to the benefit of pest control and soil nutrient services, but can also result in unexpected detrimental effects on ecosystem services.

Cryptopygus antarcticus travei (Collembola) is a springtail endemic to the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands. The mitogenome of C. a. travei has a length of 15,743 bp and comprises 13 protein-cod...

Tullbergia bisetosa is a springtail (Collembola) native to the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands. Unlike most other springtails, it has acquired a euedaphic (living within the soil) life form. In...

Isotomurus maculatus (Collembola, Isotomidae) is a springtail with a large distribution. This species has been introduced to the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands. In this study, the mitogenome o...

Significance How climate change and biological invasions interact to affect biodiversity is of major concern to conservation. Quantitative evidence for the nature of climate change–invasion interactions is, however, limited. For the soil ecosystem fauna, such evidence is nonexistent. Yet across the globe, soil-dwelling animals regulate belowground functioning and have pronounced influences on aboveground dynamics. Using springtails as an exemplar taxon, widely known to have species-specific effects on below- and aboveground dynamics, we show that across a wide latitudinal span (16–54°S), alien species have greater ability to tolerate climate change-associated warming than do their indigenous counterparts. The consequences of such consistent differences are profound given globally significant invasions of soil systems by springtails., Soil systems are being increasingly exposed to the interactive effects of biological invasions and climate change, with rising temperatures expected to benefit alien over indigenous species. We assessed this expectation for an important soil-dwelling group, the springtails, by determining whether alien species show broader thermal tolerance limits and greater tolerance to climate warming than their indigenous counterparts. We found that, from the tropics to the sub-Antarctic, alien species have the broadest thermal tolerances and greatest tolerance to environmental warming. Both groups of species show little phenotypic plasticity or potential for evolutionary change in tolerance to high temperature. These trait differences between alien and indigenous species suggest that biological invasions will exacerbate the impacts of climate change on soil systems, with profound implications for terrestrial ecosystem functioning.

— Two new species of Friesea from the Western Cape province in South Africa, F. stevenchowni sp. nov. and F. capensis sp. nov., are described. Friesea capensis sp. nov. is easily distinguished by the lack of ocelli and anal spines, while F. stevenchowni sp. nov. is distinguished from other sub-Saharan species of the genus by a combination of characters including two anal spines in the position of m1, tibiotarsi with chaeta M present, 3+3 chaetae on the thoracic tergum I and 5+5 eyes. An identification key is provided for Friesea species that are found in sub-Saharan Africa.

A non-native incursion of the collembolan, Xenylla sp. was found within the hydroponics facility at Davis Station, East Antarctica in May 2014. A rapid response was implemented to eradicate the incursion, including localised insecticide use, incineration of plants and growing media, sterilisation of the facility and three cycles of freezing/thawing of both internal rooms and external sub floor areas. Two consecutive years of summer monitoring programs have not detected any Collembola in station buildings or in the surrounding environment, suggesting the eradication was successful. This case highlights the importance of a multiple barrier approach to non-native species risks, and how activation of the last barrier—regular surveillance—resulted in early detection. The use of an online, real-time incident reporting system facilitated efficient communication between scientific experts, operational managers and expeditioners on site, resulting in a rapid and effective response following detection and potentially the first successful eradication of a non-native microarthropod in Antarctica. Monitoring will continue to confirm eradication.

Type specimens of six species of the genus Folsomia Willem, 1902 described by J. Salmon were examined. Folsomia pusilla Salmon, 1944 syn. nov. is synonymised with Mucrosomia caeca (Wahlgren, 1906)....

Collembola are an important group of indigenous terrestrial invertebrates in the sub-Antarctic region and, compared to the most continental regions, their limited diversity is well known. Several invasive species, introduced by humans, have also established in the region, with some of these widespread while others are more restricted to disturbed areas. In this study, we report the spread of two non-indigenous Collembola species on Macquarie Island. Protaphorura fimata (Gisin, 1952) (Collembola:Poduromorpha:Onychiuridae) and Proisotoma minuta (Tullberg, 1871) (Entomobryomorpha:Isotomidae) are both cosmopolitan species that have been present on the island for several decades, but restricted to the area around the research station. Here, we report their spread up to 3 and 11 km, respectively, from the research station. We discuss the implications of this finding for biosecurity across the Antarctic region. We also document the presence of a new non-indigenous species, Parisotoma notabilis (Schaffer, 1896) (Entomobryomorpha:Isotomidae).

Folsomia minorae sp. n. and F. australica sp. n. are described from New Zealand and Australia, respectively. Their possible affinity to two different groups of Cryptopygus sensu stricto is discussed. Attention is paid to the variability of sensillary patterns of the genital segment in Cryptopygus: mainly, all s-chaetae are subequal, but in more advanced forms the dorsal triplet, lateral duplet or either of them become macrochaeta-like in length. Cryptopygus ulrikeae (= Folsomia ulrikeae Najt & Thibaud, 1987), comb. n. is given a new generic position.

Although fire is a natural form of disturbance in many ecosystems, the frequency of fires is increasing due to human activities. Hence, understanding the impacts of fire on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning has become increasingly important. In this study we investigated the effects of a large-scale fire on an important soil-dwelling group, springtails (Collembola), one year before and for three consecutive years after a fire in the fire-prone fynbos ecosystem in South Africa. In particular, we investigate the resistance of the springtail assemblages (i.e. their ability to remain relatively unchanged in the face of a disturbance), and their resilience (i.e. ability to return to a pre-disturbance state). To do this we sampled two sites with contrasting vegetation ( Erica and Protea ) and used three different standardized litter types in litterbag traps. A total of 35 springtail species from 31 genera and 14 families was found. The springtail assemblages in this fynbos system showed slightly more resistance to fire than resilience after the fire event, though substantial variation was found among vegetation types. Mean species richness and abundance per litterbag varied among the Protea and Erica sites, with resistant species being dominant in the Erica site, while species that showed an increase after the fire were dominant in the Protea site. Differences were also found between life forms: atmobiotic (free-living in vegetation) and epiedaphic (surface dwelling) species showed a significant decline in mean species richness directly after the fire in the Erica site. Euedaphic (soil-dwelling) species richness remained unchanged post-fire in the Erica site, while actually slightly increasing after the fire in the Protea site. Although the fynbos springtail assemblages had not fully recovered to pre-fire abundance after three years, many species appear to be resistant to or recover rapidly after fires, at least as ascertained over the relatively short (four years) duration of the study. It is likely that this response is influenced by the presence of suitable refugia within sites and by species-specific traits. Given changing fire regimes and the increasing frequency of fires due to human disturbances, the system will likely become more dominated by resistant springtail species preferring nutrient rich circumstances and easily decomposed litters.

Thermal performance curves (TPCs) are intended to approximate the relationship between temperature and fitness, and are commonly integrated into species distributional models for understanding climate change responses. However, TPCs may vary across traits because selection and environmental sensitivity (plasticity) differ across traits or because the timing and duration of the temperature exposure, here termed time scale, may alter trait variation. Yet, the extent to which TPCs vary temporally and across traits is rarely considered in assessments of climate change responses. Using a common garden approach, we estimated TPCs for standard metabolic rate (SMR), and activity in Drosophila melanogaster at three test temperatures (16, 25 and 30°C), using flies from each of six developmental temperatures (16, 18, 20, 25, 28 and 30°C). We examined the effects of time scale of temperature exposure (minutes/ hours versus days/weeks) in altering TPC shape and position, and commonly used descriptors of the TPC: thermal optimum (Topt), thermal limits (Tmin and Tmax) and thermal breadth (Tbr). In addition, we collated previously published estimates of TPCs for fecundity and egg-to-adult viability in D. melanogaster. We found that the descriptors of the TPCs varied across traits (egg-to-adult viability, SMR, activity and fecundity), but variation in TPCs within these traits was small across studies when measured at the same time scales. The time scale at which traits were measured contributed to greater variation in TPCs than the observed variance across traits, although the relative importance of time scale differed depending on the trait (activity versus fecundity). Variation in the TPC across traits and time scales suggests that TPCs using single traits may not be an accurate predictor of fitness and thermal adaptation across environments.

Soils are integral to agricultural productivity, biodiversity, and the maintenance of ecosystem services. However, soil ecosystem research depends on foundational biological knowledge that is often missing. In this review, we present a comprehensive, cross-taxa overview of the soil biota of South Africa. We discuss the literature and sampling methods used to assess soil biota, the available taxonomic expertise and main collections within South Africa, the availability of identification guides and online resources, and the status and distribution of described species. We include species lists for all South African soil biota and, for groups with sufficient distribution records, species richness maps. Despite South Africa being only 0.8% of the earth’s terrestrial area, it contains nearly 1.8% of the world’s described soil species (mean per taxon 3.64%, range 0.17–15%; n = 36 groups), with nematodes and earthworms showing a remarkable (6.4 and 7.7%) proportion of globally described diversity. Endemism is high for most groups, ranging from 33–92%. However, major knowledge gaps exist for most soil biota groups. While sampling has been relatively comprehensive in some areas for a few groups (particularly those with direct socioeconomic impacts), the Nama-Karoo, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape are poorly sampled. Natural soils in biodiversity hotspots, such as the Fynbos Biome, are also understudied. We argue that a more integrative approach to acquiring foundational knowledge in soil biodiversity is needed if applied soil research is to be effective in ensuring sustainable soil health. Considerable investment will be required to bring our understanding of the soil biodiversity in this megadiverse region to a level where the Millennium Development Goals can be reached.

Earthworms are an important component of southern African invertebrate diversity, due both to their influential roles in soil ecosystems, and the relatively large number of species. As of 2010, there were 282 indigenous earthworm species (most endemic) known to South Africa belonging to three families: Microchaetidae, Tritogeniidae and Acanthodrilidae. In addition, 44 introduced species from six families had been recorded. However, earthworms are rarely included in environmental monitoring or conservation programmes—partly because sampling and species identification are difficult and many sampling methods are destructive and/or toxic. In this paper we review the earthworm sampling techniques most commonly used by screening data from a digitised literature collection on South African earthworms and on-line global searches. By examining a case study sampling of three vegetation types, this paper highlights taxonomic challenges and the effort required to properly curate specimens. The study provides...

Understanding the influence of microclimates is an increasing focus of investigations of global change risks to insects. Here we review recent advances in this area in the context of macrophysiological forecasts of the impacts of warming. Some studies have suggested that risk estimates may be inaccurate owing to microclimate variation or behavioural responses. Using modelled microclimatic data we illustrate this problem, demonstrating that soil microclimates on the Australian continent will warm in concert with global climate change such that the upper thermal tolerance limits of many insects will be exceeded across much of the continent. Deeper microclimates will be cooler and more hospitable, emphasising the importance of behavioural adaptation and movement amongst microclimates as a response to environmental warming.

International audience; Understanding the abundance and richness of species is one of the most fundamental steps in effecting their conservation. Despite global recognition of the significance of the below-ground component of diversity for ecosystem functioning, the soil remains a poorly studied terrestrial ecosystem. In South Africa, knowledge is increasing for a variety of soil faunal groups, but many still remain poorly understood. We have started to address this gap in the knowledge of South African soil biodiversity by focusing on the Collembola in an integrated project that encompasses systematics, barcoding and ecological assessments. Here we provide an updated list of the Collembola species from South Africa. A total of 124 species from 61 genera and 17 families has been recorded, of which 75 are considered endemic, 24 widespread, and 25 introduced. This total number of species excludes the 36 species we consider to be dubious. From the published data, Collembola species richness is high compared to other African countries, but low compared to European countries. This is largely a consequence of poor sampling in the African region, as our discovery of many new species in South Africa demonstrates. Our analyses also show that much ongoing work will be required before a reasonably comprehensive and spatially explicit picture of South Africa's springtail fauna can be provided, which may well exceed 1000 species. Such work will be necessary to help South Africa meet its commitments to biodiversity conservation, especially in the context of the 2020 Aichi targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Distributions of Earth's species are changing at accelerating rates, increasingly driven by humanmediated climate change. Such changes are already altering the composition of ecological communities, but beyond conservation of natural systems, how and why does this matter? We review evidence that climate-driven species redistribution at regional to global scales affects ecosystem functioning, human well-being, and the dynamics of climate change itself. Production of natural resources required for food security, patterns of disease transmission, and processes of carbon sequestration are all altered by changes in species distribution. Consideration of these effects of biodiversity redistribution is critical yet lacking in most mitigation and adaptation strategies, including the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals.

Folsomia minorae sp. n. and Folsomia australica sp. n. are described from New Zealand and Australia, respectively. Their possible affinity to two different groups of Cryptopygus sensu stricto is discussed. Attention is paid to the variability of sensillary patterns of the genital segment in Cryptopygus: mainly, all s-chaetae are subequal, but in more advanced forms the dorsal triplet, lateral duplet or either of them become macrochaeta-like in length. Cryptopygus ulrikeae (= Folsomia ulrikeae Najt & Thibaud, 1987), comb. n. is given a new generic position.

Rates of temperature change and thermal acclimation can alter measures of temperature tolerance. Using new experimental data on springtails and data from the literature, we show that these factors interact and have consequences for estimates of organismal vulnerability to climate change at global scales., Critical thermal limits form an increasing component of the estimation of impacts of global change on ectotherms. Whether any consistent patterns exist in the interactive effects of rates of temperature change (or experimental ramping rates) and acclimation on critical thermal limits and warming tolerance (one way of assessing sensitivity to climate change) is, however, far from clear. Here, we examine the interacting effects of ramping rate and acclimation on the critical thermal maxima (CTmax) and minima (CTmin) and warming tolerance of six species of springtails from sub-tropical, temperate and polar regions. We also provide microhabitat temperatures from 26 sites spanning 5 years in order to benchmark environmentally relevant rates of temperature change. Ramping rate has larger effects than acclimation on CTmax, but the converse is true for CTmin. Responses to rate and acclimation effects are more consistent among species for CTmax than for CTmin. In the latter case, interactions among ramping rate and acclimation are typical of polar species, less marked for temperate ones, and reduced in species from the sub-tropics. Ramping rate and acclimation have substantial effects on estimates of warming tolerance, with the former being more marked. At the fastest ramping rates (>1.0°C/min), tropical species have estimated warming tolerances similar to their temperate counterparts, whereas at slow ramping rates (

Although significant progress has been made using insect taxa as model organisms, non-tracheated terrestrial arthropods, such as Collembola, are underrepresented as model species. This underrepresentation reflects the difficulty in maintaining populations of specialist Collembola species in the laboratory. Until now, no species from the family Neanuridae have been successfully reared. Here we use controlled growth experiments to provide explicit evidence that the species Neanura muscorum can be raised under laboratory conditions when its diet is supplemented with slime mould. Significant gains in growth were observed in Collembola given slime mould rather than a standard diet of algae-covered bark. These benefits are further highlighted by the reproductive success of the experimental group and persistence of laboratory breeding stocks of this species and others in the family. The necessity for slime mould in the diet is attributed to the ‘suctorial’ mouthpart morphology characteristic of the Neanuridae. Maintaining laboratory populations of neanurid Collembola species will facilitate their use as model organisms, paving the way for studies that will broaden the current understanding of the environmental physiology of arthropods.

Here we introduce the Soil BON Foodweb Team, a cross-continental collaborative network that aims to monitor soil animal communities and food webs using consistent methodology at a global scale. Soil animals support vital soil processes via soil structure modification, consumption of dead organic matter, and interactions with microbial and plant communities. Soil animal effects on ecosystem functions have been demonstrated by correlative analyses as well as in laboratory and field experiments, but these studies typically focus on selected animal groups or species at one or few sites with limited variation in environmental conditions. The lack of comprehensive harmonised large-scale soil animal community data including microfauna, mesofauna, and macrofauna, in conjunction with related soil functions, microbial communities, and vegetation, limits our understanding of biological interactions in soil systems and how these interactions affect ecosystem functioning. To provide such data, the Soil BON Foodweb Team invites researchers worldwide to use a common methodology to address six long-term goals: (1) to collect globally representative harmonised data on soil micro-, meso-, and macrofauna communities, (2) to describe key environmental drivers of soil animal communities and food webs, (3) to assess the efficiency of conservation approaches for the protection of soil animal communities, (4) to describe soil food webs and their association with soil functioning globally, (5) to establish a global research network for soil biodiversity monitoring and collaborative projects in related topics, (6) to reinforce local collaboration networks and expertise and support capacity building for soil animal research around the world. In this paper, we describe the vision of the global research network and the common sampling protocol to assess soil animal communities and advocate for the use of standard methodologies across observational and experimental soil animal studies. We will use this protocol to conduct soil animal assessments and reconstruct soil food webs at sites associated with the global soil biodiversity monitoring network, Soil BON, allowing us to assess linkages among soil biodiversity, vegetation, soil physico-chemical properties, climate, and ecosystem functions. In the present paper, we call for researchers especially from countries and ecoregions that remain underrepresented in the majority of soil biodiversity assessments to join us. Together we will be able to provide science-based evidence to support soil biodiversity conservation and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-05T05:00:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 George-SO-Global.pdf: 4233169 bytes, checksum: 9faad657460c5d69e137289ebd0e4488 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2022