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They can survive freezing temperatures, total desiccation, and even being sent into space. But the world鈥檚 hardiest animal, the tardigrade, could have a hard time surviving climate change.

, also known as water bears, live in many environments. They are one of the few organisms that are abundant in Antarctica.

To assess how they will handle climate change, and colleagues at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy collected and subjected them to dehydration, rising temperatures, and increased ultraviolet radiation.

The tardigrades coped admirably with individual stressors. They survived desiccation at every stage of their life cycle by shutting down their metabolism, entering a state known as anhydrobiosis. They also tolerated brief periods of high temperatures up to 41掳C, and separately, high ultraviolet radiation 鈥� which they might encounter because of damage to the ozone layer.

Too much to cope with

However, the tardigrades suffered when faced with high temperatures and high radiation simultaneously. Desiccated tardigrades had particularly low survival rates when exposed to this double whammy.

Furthermore, tardigrades that survived the radiation blast showed ill effects. They reached sexual maturity later, laid fewer eggs over their lifetimes, and sometimes developed abnormally.

The findings suggest that, despite their uncanny ability to survive, a combination of threats imposed by climate change will cause problems for tardigrades in Antarctica.

Nevertheless, Rebecchi says tardigrades are more resistant to changing conditions than most animals. 鈥淲e think they have the potential to adapt if climate change is slow,鈥� she says.

It is far from certain that ultraviolet radiation at the poles will get worse than it is today, says at the University of Edinburgh. 鈥淲hether this tardigrade is more at risk than, say, apex predators such as penguin, or ecosystem keystones such as krill, is not clear.鈥�