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.