Ants are considered ecosystem engineers due to their effect on the soil properties and their ability to alter the flow of energy and nutrients. Many studies have focused on ants in boreal forests,but few have focused on the ant’s effect on the tundra. This study focuses on Formica exsecta mounds effect on soil properties above the tree line in the Abisko area. Soil moisture and soil temperature were measured in the field while organic matter content and gravimetric moisture content were measured in the lab. 113 soil samples from the summer of 2021 and 2022 were analysed. The samples were taken from inside the mound and from three distances from the mound. I found a significant difference both in nest moisture and nest temperature in the mound compared to the soil outside the mound.However, I found no significance for organic matter content at the different distances from the mound or for the gravimetric moisture content. Soil temperature and soil moisture is clearly impacted by the ant mounds, but it is not clear how far from the mound it affects the soil. / <p>Rapporten var mycket välskriven, och du gör ett bra jobb med att sätta in projektet i en vetenskaplig kontext i inledningen, med många referenser till den vetenskapliga litteraturen. Metoddelen beskriver provtagning och analyser på ett bra sätt, men vissa steg är det ibland lite svårt att följa: Hur stor volym jord provtogs på varje plats, och hur togs provet under stacken för att inte störa myrorna? I resultaten räcker det att konstatera att signifikanta samband saknades, det negative R2-värdet var mycket nära noll, och visar främst att modellen inte förklarade någon variation i data. Förklara också vad en boxplot visar i figurtext. I diskussionen eller inledningen hade jag gärna sett något omnämnande av myrornas habitatval för sina stackar och hur det kunde påverka tolkningen av eventuella skillnader i markförhållanden med avstånd från stacken. </p><p>Din presentation hade bra slides som beskrev design och resultat väl. Du pratade ganska tyst i början, men du hördes väl. Jag tyckte att det var bra att du diskuterade dina resultat i ett diskussionsavsnitt, där många andra hopade direkt från resultat till slutsatser.</p><p>Dina svar på opponentens frågor visade att du satt dig in grundligt i myrornas ekologi och ekosystemeffekter, och att du vänt och vridit på analyserna, det blev en bra vetenskaplig diskussion. Du var också bra på att sätta in frågorna i ett mer generellt sammanhang genom att referera till den vetenskapliga litteraturen. Din opponering var också bra, med frågor både på metod och resultat, med förslag på ändringar</p><p>Rapporten var välskriven och med stark anknytning till det vetenskapliga kunskapsläget men inte lika tydlig i presentation av metoder och resultat. Du visar dock att du behärskar ämnet väldigt bra och kan sätta in resultaten i ett större sammanhang.</p>

Forest ants of the genus Formica are legally protected animals. With the environmental services they provide, ensure ecological stability of forest ecosystem and are an important part of ecosystem. This work was focused on the study of ecological linkages (trofobiosis, myrmecochory and myrmecofily) and mapping damage nesting by woodpecker and wild pigs. Their destructive activities in the studied area are very high. The work also oriented on gaining a new approach to protect the ants of the genus Formica, which is based on the Red List of endangered species in the Czech Republic. Existing species protection is extended to protect the environment and the creation of a comprehensive protection.

This thesis deals with thermoregulation in red wood ants, in Formica rufa group. Our aim was to better understand the mechanisms by which red wood ants maintain thermal homeostasis in their nests. Red wood ants are known to keep high and stable temperatures in their nests from spring to autumn. Most emphasis is placed on the role of the nest mound as a solar collector or on a heat production by microbial community present in the nest material. However, some researchers believe that wood ants are able of active nest thermoregulation in which they can affect the nest temperature by behavioural reactions, mainly by sun basking, increased metabolic heat production or heat transport. The thesis consists of three research articles. The first one is focused on the timing of thermoregulation in red wood ants, the second one investigates in more detail one specific aspect of red wood ant thermoregulation - a sun basking behaviour. These two papers provide data from long-term field observations and experiments. The last paper is based on laboratory experiments where we tested a hypothesis resulting from field observations. Thanks to the field research we found out that ant activity (traffic on ant trails) significantly correlates with nest temperature; once the activity decreased the thermal homeostasis...

This diploma thesis analyses pupils' knowledge of invertebrate animals. Knowledge was tested through pupils' drawings and an educational test. An analysis was also made on the textbooks the students were taught from. The research took place on a total of 186 pupils in first-stage elementary education at two elementary schools. The research results show what knowledge the pupils have of invertebrate animals.

Soil fauna provides processes of crucial importance for ecosystem functions, but our ability to observe their actions often depend on destructive methods where the integrity of the studied environment (the soil) is compromised. In this study, I develop and test a new generation of environmental monitoring tools that utilize vibrations made by soil macrofauna to inform about their performance and health. Three hypotheses were tested on forest ants (Formica sp.): (i) vibrations on a naturally occurring substrate can be used to measure the activity of ants, (ii) the vibrational signature of ants can inform us about the ants’ health, and (iii) behavior (locomotory activity, foraging etc.) of ants is correlated to specific vibrational signal characteristics. Vibrational signals from ant sub-populations (5 individuals/sample) were recorded on natural substrates (leaves) before and after exposure to sub-lethal levels of a contaminant with known negative effects on ants (imidacloprid). Activity was successfully detected from the inferred vibration oscillograms. However, neither the number of vibrational signals captured, or the signal characteristics changed after imidacloprid exposure, indicating that either the exposure was too low to generate a change in behavior or that the technique was unable to detect subtle changes in behavior. Signals of short duration and amplitude were generated by locomotory activity, but their intensity was dependent on the distance to the vibrometers laser focus point. Longer signal segments were either continuous, random, or rhythmic in their distribution. I suggest that these signals are a result of methodological artifacts, movement of multiple ants, and stridulation/drumming on the substrate, respectively. My findings suggest that this advanced monitoring tool is sensitive enough to capture activity from only a few ants, but the characteristics and number of captured signals are strongly affected by the measured substrate

En la presente tesis doctoral se realiza un estudio detallado sobre el mecanismo de la reacción de reducción de oxígeno (ORR) en electrodos monocristalinos de platino. Para ello, se han realizado medidas electroquímicas usando la configuración de electrodo rotatorio de menisco colgante (HMRDE) con superficies con distinta estructura superficial y variando condiciones de la disolución de trabajo como el pH, fuerza iónica o la ausencia o presencia de bromuros. La conclusión principal que se extra de estos experimentos es la posibilidad de la existencia de un punto de bifurcación en el mecanismo, implicando el intermedio OOH, antes de la formación de peróxido de hidrógeno. Además, también se estudia la ORR y la reacción de oxidación de ácido fórmico en electrodos monocristalinos de Pt en presencia de acetonitrilo, como estudio previo al estudio de estas reacciones en disolventes orgánicos con pequeñas cantidades de agua. Por último, se estudia la ORR en un Aza-CMP, lo cual permite obtener información fundamental que se puede aplicar en estudios sobre el mecanismo de la ORR en los sitios activos de materiales de carbón funcionalizados con nitrógeno.