Tundra arthropods provide key insights into ecological responses to environmental change

Arthropods perform critically important functions in food webs and ecosystems and are highly sensitive to the effects of environmental change. Despite their importance, the knowledge gaps in arthropod ecology are substantial. This is particularly problematic in Earth's polar and alpine regions, where tundra ecosystems are responding rapidly to climate change. Species diversity is lower in these regions versus temperate and tropical regions, but (1) we lack baseline and long-term data about the distributions and abundances of arthropods and their relationships to abiotic variation and (2) the roles of arthropods in these ecosystems are far from fully described. In recognition of the need for increased tundra arthropod research activity, a group of international scientists formed the Network for Arthropods of the Tundra (NeAT). In the past 3 years, this academic network has brought together entomologists from research institutions around the world to revitalize and coordinate the study of tundra arthropods. This special issue on the ecology of tundra arthropods represents a tangible example of this increased momentum. The papers in the special issue highlight recent advances in understanding the relationships between arthropod communities and abiotic variation in tundra ecosystems and clarify the roles that arthropods play in ecosystems. They collectively demonstrate the utility of tundra arthropods as a model system for testing general ecological theory about how species respond to environmental variation. We hope this special issue with the insights it provides and the new frontiers it outlines, together with NeAT, will leverage further momentum to the interest in, and study of the ecology of tundra arthropods in the years to come.