Original articleMontane Collembola at risk from climate change in Australia

- Collembola communities from five mountain tops in eastern Australia were compared.
- Morphospecies diversity and abundances were high; locally endemic faunas predominated.
- Faunas were relatively similar on one mountain even after ten years.
- A new basal genus of Paronellidae indicated that mountain tops can act as refugia for cold adapted taxa.
- Tourism allows invasion of high numbers of an exotic species.

Collembola are an important component of montane arthropod communities worldwide, where they are often the most abundant and active group. In Australia, montane ecosystems are predicted to contract with continued climate warming, yet little is known about the faunal composition of Collembola on mountains nor its level of endemism. We compared the composition of Collembola communities from five mountain summits along a latitudinal gradient in eastern Australia. Each mountain harboured a distinct Collembola community, with few shared species/morphospecies. Even at the genus and family level, however, mountains varied considerably in faunal composition. Although no latitudinal trends were detected, short range endemism of morphospecies was high. Year-to-year variation in community composition within sites was small compared to between-site variation, even when collections were made 10 years apart. These results suggest that montane Collembola taxa may be resilient, as far as short term variations in weather are concerned. However, there is no evidence as to whether longer-lasting warmer conditions would be tolerated. If not, large scale losses of locally endemic species but not genera, unless they are monobasic, are likely.