Long-term cold tolerance in Arctic invertebrates: recovery after 4 years at below -20°C

Abstract

Soil samples were collected from a High Arctic Cassiope heath site on Svalbard (West Spitsbergen) in midwinter 1995 and transferred directly to -22°C. Survival was unexpectedly high in Collembola (Hypogastrura tullbergi and Folsomia quadrioculata) and Nematoda, but there was also isolated survival in two species of mites (Diapterobates notatus and Ameronothrus lineatus) and one enchytraeid (Henlea perpusilla). The unexpectedly extreme cold tolerance has implications for the range of polar habitats available for soil fauna to colonise and for migration between isolated regions.