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Soil life supports the functioning and biodiversity of terrestrial ecosystems. Springtails (Collembola) are among the most abundant soil arthropods regulating soil fertility and flow of energy through above- and belowground food webs. However, the global distribution of springtail diversity and density, and how these relate to energy fluxes remains unknown. Here, using a global dataset representing 2470 sites, we estimate the total soil springtail biomass at 27.5 megatons carbon, which is threefold higher than wild terrestrial vertebrates, and record peak densities up to 2 million individuals per square meter in the tundra. Despite a 20-fold biomass difference between the tundra and the tropics, springtail energy use (community metabolism) remains similar across the latitudinal gradient, owing to the changes in temperature with latitude. Neither springtail density nor community metabolism is predicted by local species richness, which is high in the tropics, but comparably high in some temperate forests and even tundra. Changes in springtail activity may emerge from latitudinal gradients in temperature, predation and resource limitation in soil communities. Contrasting relationships of biomass, diversity and activity of springtail communities with temperature suggest that climate warming will alter fundamental soil biodiversity metrics in different directions, potentially restructuring terrestrial food webs and affecting soil functioning.

tundras, i.e. territory bounded by the Kanin Peninsula on the west and the Kara River basin on the east. Several islands of the Barents Sea (Kolguev, Dolgii and Vaigach) are also included. Unfortunately we have to exclude the Karskay Tundra east of Kara River because modern material from this region is absent 1 .The earliest data on springtails from the territory under consideration was collected by the 1903 Finnish zoological expedition headed by B.R. Poppius. During three months the expedition explored both the southern parts of Kanin Peninsula along its western coast and its northern extremity (basin of rivers Krinka, Madaga and Rybnaya). Springtail material of the expedition was studied by Finnish entomologist W. Linnaniemi (Axelson), who recorded [1909] not less than 32 species and varieties from the treeless parts of the peninsula. Unfortunately, not all of them are possible to interpret in modern terms.During the last century, there were almost no further special studies that dealt with Collembola in the region. Only three brief papers were published [Kozlovskaya, 1955, 1957, Bombusova, Kuznetsova, 1981 which focused on the southern part of the Bolshezemel'skaya Tundra. The first modern information appeared only in the mid-90 th after a Russian-Swedish joint expedition had visited three localities along the Barents Sea shore. Despite a severe time shortage (two days per point) 88 species were found. Those data was used in reviews of two genera in the northern Palaearctic, i.e. Anurida ABSTRACT. The present review of the collembolan fauna of the East European tundra is based on existing published data and new material collected recently in the region by the authors. Four new species, i.e. Hymenaphorura inopinata sp.n., Gisinea subtilia sp.n., Pachyotoma miserabilis sp.n., and Desoria breviseta sp.n., are described. The generic position and morphological peculiarities of a number of problematic forms are discussed. General geographic ranges of all species concerned as well as characteristic of their distribution within the study region are given. The specificity of the fauna of this European region is highlighted as being due to high proportions of eastern elements, i.e. forms with East Palaearctic or East Palaearctic + Nearctic distributional patterns.РЕЗЮМЕ. Представлен обзор фауны ногохвосток восточно-европейских тундр, основанный на имеющихся литературных данных и собственных материалов, собранных за последнее время. Описано 4 новых вида: Hymenaphorura inopinata sp.n., Gisinea subtilia sp.n., Pachyotoma miserabilis sp.n. и Desoria breviseta sp.n. Для всех отмеченных видов приведены сведения об общем ареале и распространении в восточно-европейских тундрах, обсуждены положение и морфологические особенности ряда проблемных видов. Отмечена специфичность фауны данного европейского региона из-за высокой представленности восточных элементов, т.е. восточно-палеарктических или восточно-палеарктическо-неарктических форм.The present review is mainly devoted to the springtail fauna of Malozemel'skaya and Bolshezem...