Soil dwelling springtails are resilient to extreme drought in soil, but their reproduction is highly sensitive to small decreases in soil water potential

Understanding the physiology and ecology of springtails and their responses to environmental conditions in the soil is important for many aspects of soil ecology. Many springtails spend most of their lives in the soil where humidity is high, and several euedaphic species are considered semi-aquatic animals. Climate models predict that summer soil moisture in many regions will decrease in the future, and our aim with this laboratory study was to investigate the importance of soil water potentials in the range between field capacity to the wilting point on the survival, growth and reproduction of the euedaphic springtail, Folsomia candida Willem. Our results show that reproduction was, by far, the most sensitive life-history trait. Reproduction stopped already at very modest soil water potentials (-15 kPa), which did not influence body water content or growth. These results suggest that recruitment in populations of F. candida is restricted to periods where soil moisture is high. Body growth and activities of juveniles and adults, however, may continue in moderately dry soil until the soil water potential reaches ca. 100 kPa. Should severe drought occur, normal body functions are paused, but surviving adults and juvenile individuals would contribute to the resilience of this species at low soil moisture. We discuss the implications of drought for the ecological functions of springtails.

Automated summary

Understanding the physiology and ecology of springtails and their responses to soil conditions, particularly moisture levels, is crucial. This study found that the reproduction of euedaphic springtails was the most sensitive to soil water potentials, while body growth and activities could continue in moderately dry soil. Severe drought would pause normal body functions, but surviving individuals would contribute to the species' resilience at low soil moisture.