Springtails can occur in large populations on the snow surface. This peculiar habitat hosts specialized winter-active springtails living in colonies and using this seasonal habitat for feeding, effective dispersal and migration. Snow-active species have never been studied in Southern European Alps: the aim of this work is to study snow-active springtails of Adamello-Brenta Nature Park (“PNAB”; Italy), a peripheral mountain range of relevant biogeographic interest using integrative taxonomy. Springtail “bloomings” were sampled for 17 months by an environmental assistant of the park. Nine assemblages of springtails were found when temperatures were higher than 0 °C; eight were monospecific, with a total of five species found. The snow-active springtail fauna found includes both common Central-Northern European nival species like Desoria hiemalis (first record for Italy, although genetically differentiated from Northern Alps populations), Ceratophysella sigillata (known in Italy mainly from caves) and three species likely new to science (Hypogastrura cf. kelmendica sp1, Hypogastrura cf. kelmendica sp2, H. cf. peloponnesica, all belonging to the Hypogastrura socialisgroup). Snow is an important ephemeral habitat for springtails, for the biodiversity hosted and for its importance as an ecological corridor. We could hypothesize that snow, especially in peripheral mountain chains, acts as a fragmentary ephemeral habitat for those cold-adapted springtails. This could constitute a relevant aspect to take into consideration for conservation biology, especially in the context of the ongoing climate change. On the other hand, the Alpine chain probably acts as an ecological barrier for nival species, since isolated species and populations were found in PNAB.

Graphical Abstract

中文翻译：

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高山“雪跳蚤”的繁盛：雪对高山跳虫（六足纲：跳虫）生态和生物多样性的重要性

跳尾鱼可能会在雪面上大量出现。这个奇特的栖息地栖息着专门的冬季活跃的跳尾鱼，它们以群居方式生活，并利用这个季节性栖息地进行觅食、有效的扩散和迁徙。南欧阿尔卑斯山从未研究过雪活跃物种：这项工作的目的是使用综合分类法研究阿达梅洛-布伦塔自然公园（“PNAB”；意大利）的雪活跃弹尾鱼，这是一个具有相关生物地理意义的外围山脉。公园的环境助理对跳尾“开花”进行了 17 个月的采样。当温度高于 0°C 时，发现了九个弹尾鱼群；八个是单一特异性的，总共发现了五个物种。发现的雪活跃跳尾动物群包括常见的中北欧雪种，如Desoria hiemalis（意大利的首次记录，尽管与北阿尔卑斯山种群在基因上有所不同）、Ceratophysella sigillata（在意大利主要来自洞穴）和三个可能是新发现的物种。科学（Hypogastrura cf. kelmendica sp1、Hypogastrura cf. kelmendica sp2、H . cf. peloponnesica，均属于Hypogastrura Socialis组）。雪地是跳尾虫重要的临时栖息地，具有生物多样性及其作为生态走廊的重要性。我们可以假设，雪，尤其是外围山脉的雪，是那些适应寒冷的弹尾鱼的零散的短暂栖息地。这可能构成保护生物学需要考虑的一个相关方面，特别是在当前气候变化的背景下。另一方面，阿尔卑斯山链可能充当雪生物物种的生态屏障，因为在 PNAB 中发现了孤立的物种和种群。

图形概要