Cold-hardiness of the most common soil invertebrates in Northeast Asia. 1. Cold-hardiness and its mechanisms

Abstract

Cold-hardiness of soil-dwelling invertebrates (37 species of insect and 27 species from other taxa) was studied in the continental parts of Northeast Asia, which represent a region with winter temperatures extreme for the Northern Hemisphere. Insects belonging to 34 species overwinter in the supercooled state, whereby they withstand temperatures of–12...–35°C. Thirteen species (insects, myriapods, slugs, earthworms, and an amphipod) spend winter in the frozen state and survive temperatures from–5 to–45°C. Cryoprotective dehydration is typical of slug eggs, earthworm cocoons, and certain click beetle larvae, which survive temperatures ranging from–20 to–40°C, down to the record value of–196°C. The majority of the studied organisms tolerate cooling to–25...–30°C, which corresponds to average temperature minima in the upper soil horizons of most biotopes in the continental parts of the Asian Northeast.