Invasive species impacts on sub-Antarctic Collembola support the Antarctic climate-diversity-invasion hypothesis

Indigenous and introduced Collembola differ in desiccation resistance but not its plasticity in response to temperature

“…Clearly this outcome has to do, in part, with the exceptionally long survival times of the species in the family Hypogastruridae and Neanuridae ( Table 1 ), which in this study were dominated by alien species. Some species in these families are among the most successful invaders, particularly those investigated here ( Convey et al., 1999 ; Greenslade, 2002 , 2018 ), with ecological investigations demonstrating that invasive hypogastrurids can displace other Collembola species at local scales ( Terauds et al., 2011 ; Chown et al., 2022 ). Moreover, they are among the most desiccation tolerant species known, at least as far as comparisons, even with atmobiotic species, have revealed ( Liu et al., 2021 ).…”

“…Importantly, it does appear that phenotypic plasticity of desiccation tolerance plays less of a role in differentiating indigenous from alien Collembola species than might be the case for plasticity of other traits in other taxa. Ultimately, the most revealing outcome is how much still needs to be done to understand the factors underlying Collembola invasions, that are significant in many parts of the world ( Cicconardi et al., 2017 ; Greenslade, 2018 ; Phillips et al., 2020 ), with indications that they may displace local species and alter ecosystem structure and potentially functioning ( Convey et al., 1999 ; Terauds et al., 2011 ; Leinaas et al., 2015 ; Treasure et al., 2019 ; Potapov et al., 2020 ; Chown et al., 2022 ).…”

“…That is, phenotypic plasticity is key to the success of invasive species and is more pronounced in this group when compared with indigenous species (though these comparisons have some complexity ( van Kleunen et al., 2010a , 2018) ). As the exemplar group for testing these hypotheses, we use Collembola because of their significance in soil systems ( Potapov et al., 2020 ), because invasive springtails displace indigenous species ( Convey et al., 1999 ; Terauds et al., 2011 ; Chown et al., 2022 ), alter ecosystem structure ( Greenslade, 2018 ; Treasure et al., 2019 ), and have the potential to affect ecosystem functioning ( Leinaas et al., 2015 ; Potapov et al., 2020 ), and because tests of these hypotheses have so far been developed most extensively for this group, but only for species from the sub-Antarctic islands ( Chown et al., 2007 ; Phillips et al., 2020 ).…”

Colonizing polar environments: thermal niche evolution in Collembola

“…Although the effects of climate change may be different for native species between polar regions in both hemispheres (Nielsen and Wall 2013), invasive species do have a negative effect on the diversity and abundance of native species, at least in Antarctica (Chown et al 2022). The number of non-native Collembola detected in Antarctica in recent years is alarmingly high against other groups (Enríquez et al 2019).…”

The Resilience of Polar Collembola (Springtails) in a Changing Climate

“…In Antarctica, high endemism and currently low levels of competition and predation suggest an increased vulnerability to non-native and invasive species ( Hughes et al., 2015 ; Enríquez et al., 2018 ; Chown et al., 2022 ). The Antarctic Circumpolar Current has restricted all but sporadic natural dispersal events to the continent ( Fraser et al., 2018 ).…”