Original article Montane Collembola at risk from climate change in Australia Penelope Greenslade a, b, * , Rachel Slatyer c, d a Environmental Management, School of Applied and Biomedical Science, Facultyof Science and Technology, Federation University, Ballarat, Victoria 3353, Australia b Department of Biology, Australian National University, GPO Box, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia c Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison 53706, USA d School of Biosciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia article info Article history: Received 30 October 2016 Received in revised form 1 March 2017 Accepted 5 May 2017 Handling Editor: Stefan Schrader Keywords: Latitudinal gradient Mountain biogeography Short-range endemics Species richness abstract Collembola are an important component of montane arthropod communities worldwide, where they are often the most abundant and active group. In Australia, montane ecosystems are predicted to contract with continued climate warming, yet little is known about the faunal composition of Collembola on mountains nor its level of endemism. We compared the composition of Collembola communities from five mountain summits along a latitudinal gradient in eastern Australia. Each mountain harboured a distinct Collembola community, with few shared species/morphospecies. Even at the genus and family level, however, mountains varied considerably in faunal composition. Although no latitudinal trends were detected, short range endemism of morphospecies was high. Year-to-year variation in community composition within sites was small compared to between-site variation, even when collections were made 10 years apart. These results suggest that montane Collembola taxa may be resilient, as far as short term variations in weather are concerned. However, there is no evidence as to whether longer-lasting warmer conditions would be tolerated. If not, large scale losses of locally endemic species but not genera, unless they are monobasic, are likely. © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Projected temperature increases over the next 100 years have led to concerns about biodiversity loss and biological community change [1], and the last decade has already been among the warmest in Australasia over the past 1000 years [2]. In Australia, anthropogenic climate change poses a particular threat to sub- alpine and alpine ecosystems [3], with complete loss of alpine habitats predicted by 2100 [4]. This is associated with considerable (up to 96%) declines in the predicted area of snow cover [3,5]. Examining species that are endemic to montane habitats is crucial to predicting what losses or changes may occur in alpine commu- nities in response to climate change [6e8], especially as Garrick [9] noted that upland areas with topographic heterogeneity function as refugia from infrequent but severe climatic conditions. Springtails (Collembola) and Acari are frequent and abundant invertebrate groups in mountain systems worldwide [10] and also in Australia [11], with the proportion of Collembola, as part of the total soil fauna abundance, often increasing from low to high elevation [10]. This group are important detritivores, assisting in soil mineralisation by increasing detritus surfaces through feeding, which allows for faster bacteria and fungi colonisation [12,13]. Their function in montane environments is unknown, but different re- sponses to warming have been reported from cold environments around the world [14e17]. It is estimated that, at most, 20% of Australia's Collembola spe- cies have been described and this number would be fewer for montane areas [18]. Given the probable presence of both wide- and narrow-range species, studies on abundance, distribution and di- versity in Australia's montane regions are essential in order to determine their differing resiliences to climate change. As Col- lembola contribute to organic matter turnover [13], alterations in the fauna as a result of climate change are likely to affect the integrity of montane ecosystems. Collembola are one of the most active groups beneath the snow [11,19], and are likely to contribute to nutrient cycling throughout the winter. Snow buffers the underlying soil from temperature * Corresponding author. Environmental Management, School of Applied and Biomedical Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Federation University, Bal- larat, Victoria 3353, Australia. E-mail address: p.greenslade@federation.edu.au (P. Greenslade). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect European Journal of Soil Biology journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ejsobi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2017.05.002 1164-5563/© 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. European Journal of Soil Biology 80 (2017) 85e91