Globally invariant metabolism but density-diversity mismatch in springtails.

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

Global fine-resolution data on springtail abundance and community structure

Springtails (Collembola) inhabit soils from the Arctic to the Antarctic and comprise an estimated ~32% of all terrestrial arthropods on Earth. Here, we present a global, spatially-explicit database on springtail communities that includes 249,912 occurrences from 44,999 samples and 2,990 sites. These data are mainly raw sample-level records at the species level collected predominantly from private archives of the authors that were quality-controlled and taxonomically-standardised. Despite covering all continents, most of the sample-level data come from the European continent (82.5% of all samples) and represent four habitats: woodlands (57.4%), grasslands (14.0%), agrosystems (13.7%) and scrublands (9.0%). We included sampling by soil layers, and across seasons and years, representing temporal and spatial within-site variation in springtail communities. We also provided data use and sharing guidelines and R code to facilitate the use of the database by other researchers. This data paper describes a static version of the database at the publication date, but the database will be further expanded to include underrepresented regions and linked with trait data.</p

Global fine-resolution data on springtail abundance and community structure

CODE AVAILABILITY : Programming R code is openly available together with the database from Figshare.SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL 1 : Template for data collectionSUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL 2 : Data Descriptor WorksheetSpringtails (Collembola) inhabit soils from the Arctic to the Antarctic and comprise an estimated ~32% of all terrestrial arthropods on Earth. Here, we present a global, spatially-explicit database on springtail communities that includes 249,912 occurrences from 44,999 samples and 2,990 sites. These data are mainly raw sample-level records at the species level collected predominantly from private archives of the authors that were quality-controlled and taxonomically-standardised. Despite covering all continents, most of the sample-level data come from the European continent (82.5% of all samples) and represent four habitats: woodlands (57.4%), grasslands (14.0%), agrosystems (13.7%) and scrublands (9.0%). We included sampling by soil layers, and across seasons and years, representing temporal and spatial within-site variation in springtail communities. We also provided data use and sharing guidelines and R code to facilitate the use of the database by other researchers. This data paper describes a static version of the database at the publication date, but the database will be further expanded to include underrepresented regions and linked with trait data.Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.http://www.nature.com/sdatahj2024Plant Production and Soil ScienceSDG-15:Life on lan

Three new Oligaphorura species (Collembola: Onychiuridae) of the marcuzzii-group from the Caucasus

Shveenkova, Yulia B., Babenko, Anatoly B. (2022): Three new Oligaphorura species (Collembola: Onychiuridae) of the marcuzzii-group from the Caucasus. Zootaxa 5116 (4): 579-590, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5116.4.

Oligaphorura montivaga Shveenkova & Babenko 2022, sp. nov.

Oligaphorura montivaga sp. nov. Figs 3, 9 – 14; Table 1 Type material. Russia: holotype, male, Northern Caucasus, North Ossetia-Alania, Alagir District, North Ossetia State Nature Reserve, vicinity of Nar [42.6792°N, 44.0303°E], 1780 m alt., pine forest, soil and litter, 20.06.2016, N. Kuznetsova & A. Geraskina leg. Paratype: female, same data as holotype. The types are kept in the MSPU collection. Diagnosis. Body cylindrical. Dorsal sensilla on body well-marked. Anal spines absent. Pseudocellar formulae 43/144/44354 (dorsal), 11/000/1112 (ventral), 222 (subcoxal). Ventral psx hardly visible. AIIIO with 5 papillae. PAO slightly larger than nearest pso, with 3–4 lobes. Labium of ABD-type (papilla E entirely absent). Th. III without lateral ms. Abd. IV with unpaired seta p0. Tibiotarsal chaetotaxy complete: distal whorls (A+T) of each Ti with 11 setae. Furcal remnant of schoetti - type, with a small cuticular fold. Description. Size 0.61–0.65 mm, holotype 0.61 mm. Colour white in alcohol. Body cylindrical. Granulation regular, slightly coarser around dorsal pso (11–13 granules) (Fig. 9). Number of pso: 43/144/44354 (dorsal) and 11/000/1112 (ventral) (Figs 9–11). Ventral psx virtually invisible, only in few cases their asymmetric presence on Abd. II still being detected (Fig. 10). Each upper Sc of legs I–III with 2 pso. Antennae slightly shorter than head. Ant. IV with 3 poorly thickened S-setae, subapical organite present, microsensillum located in proximal row of setae (Fig. 13). AIIIO on Ant. III consisting of 5 papillae, 5 guard setae, 2 sensory rods, 2 granulated clubs (external one larger) and lateral ms. Ant. I–II with 9 and 14 setae, respectively. Antennal area not marked. PAO located laterally in a cuticular furrow, with 4(3) lobes, slightly larger than nearest pso. Maxilla unmodified. Maxillary palp simple with 1 basal seta and 2 sublobals. Labrum with 4/342 setae. Labium with 6 proximal, 4 basomedian and 5 basolateral setae, terminal sensilla of papillae A, B and D thickened, papilla C and its terminal sensillum clearly shorter, papilla E entirely absent (labium of ABD type) (Fig. 12). Ten guard setae present on labial palp, four of them spiniform as usual, six others also rather short. Their exact assignment problematic: four guards located on site of reduced papilla E, and other two—next to papillae B and D. Dorsal setae poorly differentiated into macro—and microsetae, symmetrical in general (Fig. 9). S-setae well marked and distributed as follows: 11/022/22211 (dorsally), 11/000/000101 (ventrally) and 0, 0, 1 on lower Sc of legs I–III. Head with an axial unpaired seta a0, but without a0’, d0 being absent as usual for the genus. Setae p1 on head at level with p2. Th. I with 5+5 dorsal setae. Lateral ms present only on Th. II and absent on Th. III. Terga of Th. II–Abd. III with 3–4 pairs of axial setae. Abd. IV with an unpaired seta p0. Setae a0 and a2 on Abd. VI almost equal in length, setae a1 half as long as a0. Thoracic sterna with 0-1-1 setae each side of ventral line. Ventral chaetotaxy as in Figs 10–11. Upper subcoxae of legs I–III with 4(3), 5(3), 5(3) setae, respectively. Tibiotarsal chaetotaxy complete with 20–21–19 setae, respectively: distal whorls (T+A) with 11 setae, 7 B-setae (B7 absent only on Ti III), one seta (or two on the second leg) of C-whorl and an unpaired seta M. Unguis with neither inner nor lateral teeth, unguiculus with a narrow basal lamella, about half as long as inner edge of unguis (Fig. 14). VT with 6+6 proximal and (1)2+2 setae at base. Furcal remnant of schoetti - type, cuticular fold small, sometimes indistinct (Figs 3, 10). Each lateral anal valve with a0 and 2a1 setae, unpaired valve with a0, 2b1, 2b2 and 7 setae in c-row (b0 and a1 absent). Anal spines absent. Etymology. The species is named after its habitat preferences, derived from montivagus (Lat.) [mons + vagor] meaning a mountain wanderer. Affinities. The main diagnostic features of all known representatives of the marcuzzii -group are shown in Table 1. According to these data, O. montivaga sp. nov. is most similar to O. kremenitsai and O. humicola, in which the labial palps are also of the ABD-type with short guards. Trio clearly differ in pso-formulae (43/144/ 44354 in O. montivaga sp. nov., vs 42/144/ 33354 in O. kremenitsai and 42/133/ 33354 in O. humicola), the types of the furcal area (the “schoetti”- type in O. montivaga sp. nov. compared to the humicola - type in both O. kremenitsai and O. humicola) and the number of tibiotarsal setae (11 distal setae in O. montivaga sp. nov., vs only 6 such setae in both O. kremenitsai and O. humicola). Differences of O. montivaga sp. nov. from O. tatianae sp. nov. and O. igori sp. nov. are to be found in the Affinities sections of the respective species descriptions, as well as in Table 1. It is noteworthy that O. montivaga sp. nov. is not the only species of the group inhabiting the area under study. A few specimens of another, still undescribed form characterized by the same type of the labium but a different pseudocellar formula and a different number of distal setae on the tibiotarsi, have been found in an adjacent territory (North Ossetia – Alania, North Ossetia Nature Reserve, Tsey River gorge, pine forest, litter [42.7972°N, 43.9243°E], ~ 1670 m alt., 20.06.2016, leg. N. Kuznetsova & A. Geraskina). Unfortunately, all of them are juveniles that cannot be described at the moment.Published as part of Shveenkova, Yulia B. & Babenko, Anatoly B., 2022, Three new Oligaphorura species (Collembola: Onychiuridae) of the marcuzzii-group from the Caucasus, pp. 579-590 in Zootaxa 5116 (4) on pages 581-583, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5116.4.6, http://zenodo.org/record/637542

Oligaphorura tatianae Shveenkova & Babenko 2022, sp. nov.

Oligaphorura tatianae sp. nov. Figs 1–2, 15–16, 19–22; Table 1 Type material. Russia: holotype, male, North Caucasus, Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Teberda State Nature Reserve, Goralykol River gorge [43.4514°N, 41.8236°E], pine forest with green mosses and Calamagrostis sp., ~ 1800 m alt., soil and litter, 15.06.2016, N. Kuznetsova & A. Geraskina leg. Paratypes: 2 males, 1 juvenile, same data as holotype; 1 female, same Nature Reserve, Teberda River valley, road to Baduk lakes [43.6425°N, 41.885°E], 1380 m alt., spruce forest, litter, 25.06.2015, N. Kuznetsova & A. Geraskina leg. The types are kept in the MSPU collection. Diagnosis. Body cylindrical. Dorsal sensilla on body well-marked. Anal spines absent. Number of pso: 43/133/44(5)364 (dorsal), 11/000/1112 (ventral), 222 (subcoxal). Ventral psx hardly visible. AIIIO with 5 papillae, PAO slightly larger than nearest pso, with 3–4 lobes. Labium of ABD-type (papillae C and E lower, each with a short terminal sensillum). Th. III without lateral ms. Abd. IV with an unpaired seta p0. Tibiotarsal chaetotaxy complete, distal whorls (A+T) of each Ti with 11 setae. Furcal remnant of schoetti - type, with a small cuticular fold. Description. Size 0.55–0.66 mm, holotype 0.63 mm. Colour white in alcohol. Body cylindrical. Granulation regular, slightly coarser around dorsal pso (10–12 granules) (Fig. 19). Number of pso: 43/133/44(5)364 (dorsal) and 11/000/1112 (ventral) (Figs 19–21). Ventral psx almost invisible, although in one specimen psx asymmetrically present on Abd. II (Fig. 20). Each upper Sc of legs I– III with 2 pso. Antennae slightly shorter than head. Ant. IV with 3 poorly thickened S-setae, subapical organite present, microsensillum located in proximal row of setae (Fig. 16). AIIIO on Ant. III consisting of 5 papillae, 5 guard setae, 2 sensory rods, 2 granulated clubs (external one larger) and lateral ms. Ant. I–II with 9 and 14 setae, respectively. Antennal area slightly marked. PAO located laterally in a cuticular furrow, with 4(3) lobes, slightly larger than nearest pso. Maxilla unmodified. Maxillary palp simple with 1 basal seta and 2 sublobals. Labrum with 4/342 setae. Labial palp with 11 (4 spiniform and 7 longer ones) guards and 5 proximal setae. The exact assignment of longer guards problematic: four of them located around papilla E and three others—next to papillae B and D. Basomedian and basolateral fields of labium with 4 and 5 setae, respectively. Terminal sensilla of papillae A, B and D thickened, papillae C and E lower, both with very short terminal sensilla (labium of ABD type) (Fig. 22). Dorsal setae poorly differentiated into macro—and microsetae, symmetrical in general (Fig. 19). S-setae well marked and distributed as follows: 11/022/22211 (dorsally), 11/000/000101 (ventrally) and 0, 0, 1 on lower Sc of legs I–III. Head with an axial unpaired seta a0 but without a0’, d0 absent as usual for the genus. Setae p1 on head at level with p2. Th. I with 5+5 dorsal setae. Lateral ms present only on Th. II and absent on Th. III. Terga of Th. II–Abd. III each with 3–4 pairs of axial setae. Abd. IV with an unpaired seta p0. On Abd. VI, setae a0 and a2 approximately same in size, setae a1 half as long as a0. Thoracic sterna with 0-1-1 setae each side of ventral line. Ventral chaetotaxy as in Figs 20–21. Upper subcoxae of legs I–III with 4, 5, 5 setae, respectively. Tibiotarsal chaetotaxy complete with 20–21–19 setae, respectively: distal whorls (T+A) with 11 setae, 7 B-setae (B7 absent only on Ti III), one seta (or two setae on the second leg) of C-whorl and an unpaired seta M. Unguis with neither inner nor lateral teeth, unguiculus narrow, with a narrow basal lamella, about half as long as inner edge of unguis (Fig. 15). VT with 6+6 proximal setae and 2+2 setae at base. Furcal remnant of schoetti - type, cuticular fold small, sometimes indistinct (Figs 1–2, 20). Each lateral anal valve with a0, 2a1 and 1&acy;2 setae, unpaired valve with a0, 2b1, 2b2 and 7 setae in c-row (b0 and a1 absent). Anal spines absent. Etymology. The species honours Tatiana Dobrolyubova who worked for a long time in the Teberda Nature Reserve, and whose ecological papers formed the basis for the study of Collembola in the North Caucasus. Affinities. Among the representatives of the marcuzzii -group, O. tatianae sp. nov. is obviously most similar to O. montivaga sp. nov., the latter from a more easterly part of the North Caucasus. Apart from more or less stable differences in the number of dorsal pso (43/133/44(5) 364 in O. tatianae sp. nov., vs 43/144/ 44354 in O. montivaga sp. nov.), these species clearly differ in the fine structure of the labium (papilla E present in O. tatianae sp. nov., vs absent from O. montivaga sp. nov.). The presence of papilla E on the labial palp in O. tatianae sp. nov. is a unique trait that makes the species distinguishable from all other known forms with the ABD-type of the labium, viz. O. montivaga sp. nov., O. kremenitsai, O. humicola and O. igori sp. nov. (see below). Other differences with the known congeners of the group are shown in Table 1.Published as part of Shveenkova, Yulia B. & Babenko, Anatoly B., 2022, Three new Oligaphorura species (Collembola: Onychiuridae) of the marcuzzii-group from the Caucasus, pp. 579-590 in Zootaxa 5116 (4) on pages 583-586, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5116.4.6, http://zenodo.org/record/637542

Oligaphorura igori Shveenkova & Babenko 2022, sp. nov.

Oligaphorura igori sp. nov. Figs 4, 17–18, 23–26; Table 1 Type material. Russia: holotype, male, Northwestern Caucasus, Krasnodar Krai, ~ 45 km E of Sochi, Krasnaya Polyana, upper station of Galaktika G 1 cable car, Laura River basin, [43.6952°N, 40.3585°E], fir-beech forest with maple, ~ 1600 m alt., litter, 20.06.2018, N. Kuznetsova & A. Saraeva leg. Paratypes: 4 female, 2 juvenile males, 1 juvenile, same data as holotype. The types are kept in the MSPU collection. Diagnosis. Body cylindrical. Dorsal sensilla on body well-marked. Anal spines absent. Pseudocellar formulae: 43/133/44354 (dorsal), 11/000/1112 (ventral), 222 (subcoxal). Ventral psx hardly visible. AIIIO with 5 papillae, PAO slightly larger than nearest pso, with 3–4 lobes. Labium of ABD-type (papilla C low with short terminal sensilla, E absent). Th. III without lateral ms. Distal whorls (A+T) of each tibiotarsus with 9 setae. Furcal remnant of schoetti - type, cuticular furrow quite distinct. Description. Size 0.56–0.64 mm, holotype 0.57 mm. Colour white in alcohol. Body cylindrical. Granulation regular, slightly coarser around dorsal pso (10–12 granules) (Fig. 23). Number of pso: 43/133/44354 (dorsal) and 11/000/1112 (ventral) (Figs 23–25). Ventral psx poorly expressed, almost invisible, 0/000/001(0)000 in number (Fig. 24). Each upper Sc of legs I–III with 2 pso. Antennae shorter than head. Ant. IV with 3 slightly thickened S-setae, subapical organite present, microsensillum located in proximal row of setae (Fig. 17). AIIIO on Ant. III consisting of 5 papillae, 5 guard setae, 2 sensory rods, 2 granulated clubs (external one larger) and lateral ms. Ant. I–II with 9 and 13 setae, respectively. Antennal area slightly marked. PAO located laterally in a cuticular furrow, with 4(3) lobes, slightly larger than nearest pso. Maxilla unmodified. Maxillary palp simple with 1 basal seta and 2 sublobals. Labrum with 4/342 setae. Labial palp with 6 proximal setae and 10 guards, four of guards spiniform as usual, six others longer but also rather short. Four of the latter guards located on site of reduced papilla E, and other two—next to papillae B and D. Basomedian and basolateral fields of labium with 4 and 5 setae, respectively. Terminal sensilla of papillae A, B and D thickened, papilla C lower with short terminal sensillum, papilla E absent (labium of ABD type) (Fig. 26). Dorsal setae poorly differentiated into macro—and microsetae, symmetrical in general (Fig. 23). S-setae well marked and distributed as follows: 11/022/22211 (dorsally), 0/000/00011 (ventrally) and 0, 0, 1 on lower Sc of legs I–III. Head with an axial unpaired seta a0, but without a0’, d0 absent as usual for the genus. Setae p1 on head at level with p2. Th. I with 5+5 dorsal setae. Lateral ms present only on Th. II and absent on Th. III. Terga of Th. II–Abd. III each with 3–4 pairs of axial setae. On Abd. VI, setae a0 and a2 approximately same in size, setae a1 half as long as a0. Thoracic sterna with 0-1-1 setae each side of ventral line. Ventral chaetotaxy as in Figs 24, 25. Upper subcoxae of legs I–III with 4, 3, 3 setae, respectively. Tibiotarsal chaetotaxy with 18–19–17 setae, respectively: distal whorl (T+A) with 9 setae (setae T2 and T3 absent), 7 B-setae (B7 absent only on Ti III), an unpaired seta M and one seta (or two setae on the second leg) of C-whorl. Unguis with neither inner nor lateral teeth, unguiculus narrow, with a narrow basal lamella, about 0.3–0.4 times as long as inner edge of unguis (Fig. 18). VT with 6+6 proximal setae and 2+2 setae at base. Furcal remnant of schoetti - type, cuticular furrow quite distinct (Figs 4, 24). Each lateral anal valve with a0 and 2a1 setae, unpaired valve with a0, 2b1, 2b2 and 7 setae in c-row (b0 and a1 absent). Anal spines absent. Etymology. The species honours Igor Kaprus’, our Ukrainian friend and colleague, in appreciation of his significant contributions to the taxonomy of Onychiurinae, as well as his extensive faunistic researches in the mountain regions of Ukraine and Russia. Affinities. Oligaphorura igori sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other known congeners of the marcuzzii -group characterized by the ABD-type of the labium and two pso on each upper subcoxae due to the presence of nine distal setae on each tibiotarsus, whereas O. montivaga sp. nov. and O. tatianae sp. nov. have 11 setae in that position, vs only 6 in O. kremenitsai and O. humicola (see Table 1). There are also some other sound differences: the types of the furcal area (the schoetti - type in O. igori sp. nov., O. montivaga sp. nov., O. tatianae sp. nov. vs the humicola - type in O. kremenitsai and O. humicola), pso-formulae (43/133/ 44354 in O. igori sp. nov., 43/133/44(5) 364 in O. tatianae sp. nov., 43/144/ 44354 in O. montivaga sp. nov., 42/144/ 33354 in O. kremenitsai and 42/133/ 33354 in O. humicola) and the rather short unguiculus in O. igori sp. nov. (about 0.3–0.4 times as long as inner edge of unguis). A single specimen of a very similar form has also been found in an adjacent area (Western Caucasus, Caucasus Nature Reserve, Republic of Adygea, Guzeripl cordon, [43.9945°N, 40.1421°E], fir-beech forest, 712 m alt., litter, 26.06.2017, N. Kuznetsova & A. Geraskina leg.). It shares the main diagnostic features (pseudocellar formulae, the types of the labium and the furcal remnant) with O. igori sp. nov., but it shows a different number of distal setae on the tibiotarsi. Unfortunately, we do not have enough material to describe it at present.Published as part of Shveenkova, Yulia B. & Babenko, Anatoly B., 2022, Three new Oligaphorura species (Collembola: Onychiuridae) of the marcuzzii-group from the Caucasus, pp. 579-590 in Zootaxa 5116 (4) on pages 586-588, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5116.4.6, http://zenodo.org/record/637542

Biodiversity revision of a large arctic region as a basis for its monitoring and protection under conditions of active economic development (Nenetsky Autonomous Okrug, Russia)

In the scope of implementing a UNDP / GEF / Ministry of Nature project, a database and a GIS to consider the biodiversity of the Nenetsky Autonomous Okrug were developed. They include information on 2035 animal and 1640 plant species, belonging to 15 model groups. Data were obtained using publications and unpublished sources, the results of studying collections / herbaria of four institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and data of fieldwork (2015) conducted in three coastal areas of Bolshezemelskaya Tundra. The taxonomic richness of the Nenetsky Autonomous Okrug biota is not lower (even higher in some animal groups) than in other large Arctic regions (e.g. Taymyr and Greenland). Some new vegetation syntaxa have been described. And some phytogeographic boundaries have been established. Several animal taxa have been described for the first time for science. Some of species were neither previously recorded in the Nenetsky Autonomous Okrug nor formerly known from Europe («Siberian» species), nor from Russia. Concerning types of ranges, the proportion of species having predominantly Siberian / East Palaearctic / Siberian-Nearctic ranges varied in different model groups from 0% to 30%. The fraction of arctic (in a wide sense) species ranged from 0% to 29%. We considered the status of the natural environment of the Nenetsky Autonomous Okrug to be satisfactory so far as its destruction is particularly local. We strongly confirm the need to create new Protected Areas. The material obtained during the project processing has been applied to the organisation of sanctuaries in the Khaipudyrskaya Bay and Pakhancheskaya Bay, Barents Sea

Globally invariant metabolism but density-diversity mismatch in springtails

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.ISSN:2041-172