Are the Antarctic dipteran, Eretmoptera murphyi, and Arctic collembolan, Megaphorura arctica, vulnerable to rising temperatures?

Everatt, M.J.; Convey, P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8497-9903; Worland, M.R.; Bale, J.S.; Hayward, S.A.L.. 2014 Are the Antarctic dipteran, Eretmoptera murphyi, and Arctic collembolan, Megaphorura arctica, vulnerable to rising temperatures? Bulletin of Entomological Research, 104 (4). 494-503. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007485314000261

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Text (This article has been accepted for publication and will appear in a revised form in the Bulletin of Entomological Research, published by Cambridge University Press. Copyright Cambridge University Press.) Heat tolerance - Everatt et al 2014 AAM.pdf - Accepted Version Download (221kB) | Preview

Abstract/Summary

Polar terrestrial invertebrates are suggested as being vulnerable to temperature change relative to lower latitude species, and hence possibly also to climate warming. Previous studies have shown Antarctic and Arctic Collembola and Acari to possess good heat tolerance and survive temperature exposures above 30 °C. To test this feature further, the heat tolerance and physiological plasticity of heat stress were explored in the Arctic collembolan, Megaphorura arctica, from Svalbard and the Antarctic midge, Eretmoptera murphyi, from Signy Island. The data obtained demonstrate considerable heat tolerance in both species, with upper lethal temperatures ≥35 °C (1 h exposures), and tolerance of exposure to 10 and 15 °C exceeding 56 days. This tolerance is far beyond that required in their current environment. Average microhabitat temperatures in August 2011 ranged between 5.1 and 8.1 °C, and rarely rose above 10 °C, in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. Summer soil microhabitat temperatures on Signy Island have previously been shown to range between 0 and 10 °C. There was also evidence to suggest that E. murphyi can recover from high-temperature exposure and that M. arctica is capable of rapid heat hardening. M. arctica and E. murphyi therefore have the physiological capacity to tolerate current environmental conditions, as well as future warming. If the features they express are characteristically more general, such polar terrestrial invertebrates will likely fare well under climate warming scenarios

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007485314000261
Programmes:	BAS Programmes > Polar Science for Planet Earth (2009 - ) > Ecosystems
ISSN:	0007-4853
Additional Keywords:	rapid heat hardening, acclimation, thermal sensitivity, recovery, Diptera, Collembola
Date made live:	20 May 2014 08:52 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/507281

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