View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by NERC Open Research Archive 1 Heat tolerance and physiological plasticity in the 2 Antarctic collembolan, Cryptopygus antarcticus, and 3 mite, Alaskozetes antarcticus a* b, c b a a 4 M. J. Everatt , P. Convey , M. R. Worland , J. S. Bale and S. A. L. Hayward a 5 School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK b 6 British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, 7 Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK 8 cNational Antarctic Research Center, IPS Building, University Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, 9 Malaysia 10 *Corresponding author. Tel.: + 44 789 620 1770. Email address:
[email protected] (M. J. 11 Everatt). 12 13 Abstract 14 Polar amplification of global warming has led to an average 2oC rise in air temperatures in parts of the 15 polar regions in the last 50 years. Poikilothermic ectotherms that are found in these regions, such as 16 Collembola and mites, may therefore be put under pressure by changing environmental conditions. 17 However, it has also been suggested that the thermal sensitivity of invertebrates declines with higher 18 latitudes and, therefore, that polar ectotherms may not be at risk. In the current study, the heat 19 tolerance and physiological plasticity to heat stress of two well-studied Antarctic invertebrates, the 20 collembolan, Cryptopygus antarcticus, and the mite, Alaskozetes antarcticus, were investigated. Both 21 species showed considerable heat tolerance, with each having an Upper Lethal Temperature (ULT) 22 above 35oC (1 hour exposure).