Anoxia tolerance in high Arctic terrestrial microarthropods

Abstract. 1. Ten Arctic species of Collembola and two species of cryptostigmatic mites survived anoxia at 5 °C over periods ranging from 1 to 36 days. 2. Highly active, surface‐dwelling collembolans such as Isotoma anglicana, Isotoma tschernovi, and Sminthurides malmgreni were the most susceptible to anoxia. Mites and Collembola living deeper in the soil or in wet habitats, such as Camisia anomia and Hypogastrura viatica, were most tolerant. Tolerance, however, appears more closely linked to taxonomic relatedness than to ecological groupings per se, although the two may coincide. 3. Implications for life‐history strategies, including metabolic cold adaptation in its broadest sense, are discussed.