Cold Hardiness of Mass Soil Invertebrate Animals of Northeastern Asia: 1. Cold Hardiness and the Mechanisms of Its Maintenance

Abstract

The cold hardiness of soil invertebrates (37 species of insects and 27 species of other taxa) was studied in the continental areas of Northeast Asia, a region with extreme winter temperatures. Insects overwinter mostly (34 species) in a supercooled state surviving within the temperature range of –12 to –35°C. Thirteen species of invertebrates (including insects, centipedes, slugs, earthworms, and amphipods) can withstand temperatures within the range of –5 to –45°C in a frozen state. The eggs of slugs, cocoons of earthworms, and larvae of some species of elaterids use cryoprotective dehydration, which allows them to survive at temperatures from –20 to –40°C, down to the record minimum of –196°C. Most of the organisms studied can tolerate temperatures of –25 to –30°C, which correspond to the average minimal temperatures in the upper soil horizons in most habitats of the continental regions of Northeast Asia.