High resolution image documentation of Greenlandic arthropod species

Temperatures in the Arctic currently rise at four times the global
average, making it of utmost importance to understand the thermal biology
of species in these sensitive environments. For arctic ectotherms in
particular, thermal tolerance limits and adaptive potential are mostly
unknown. Such knowledge is urgently needed to predict climate change
impacts on future distributions of biodiversity in these rapidly changing
environments. Here, we provide new data on upper and lower thermal limits
of 93 Greenlandic species of insects, arachnids, and collembolans
identified using barcode sequencing representing ~8% of terrestrial
Greenlandic arthropod species. We found pronounced differences in heat and
cold tolerance among species and a strong phylogenetic signal for both
heat tolerance and thermal scope (difference between upper and lower
thermal limits), suggesting that terrestrial Greenlandic arthropods are
evolutionarily constrained in their capacity to cope with increasing and
more variable future temperatures. Further, with projected future
increases in microclimatic temperatures induced by climate change, we
reveal a marked increase in the number of species that will experience
potentially stressful temperatures, as well as prolonged periods of
stressful exposure. Together, our results suggest that climate change will
likely result in substantial changes in distributions and abundances of
Greenlandic terrestrial arthropods.