Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2025
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E80
Höfundar / Authors: Andreas Guðmundsson (1), Marco Mancini (1), Arnar Pálsson (1)
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. Háskóli Íslands
Kynnir / Presenter: Andreas Guðmundsson
Ants are well known for the advanced social structures of their colonies, making them highly adaptable, and facilitating their spread around the globe with the unwitting aid of humans. This has allowed numerous ant species to establish populations far outside of their native ranges, which in many cases has had detrimental effects on native biodiversity. Here, we report the settlement of two Hypoponera ant species, H. ergatandria (Húsamaur) and H. eduardi (Hveramaur), across a number of geothermal areas in the west of Iceland, from Skagafjörður in the north, to Reykjanes in the south. To study these populations, structured quadrat surveys were conducted in 33 different geothermal sites around the country, while four sites were chosen for monthly surveys from March 2024 to February 2025. Colonies of H. eduardi were found all year round, remaining active in subnivean pockets under layers of snow and ice, while no H. ergatandria activity was documented over the winter months. Analyses on the environmental tolerance parameters of the two species suggest that both are dependent on geothermally heated soil, making settlements outside geothermal areas unlikely. Despite this, we found that the majority of ant-free geothermal sites surveyed exhibit optimal environmental conditions which could facilitate further colonisations. For now, the two ant species appear to exert a benign effect on geothermal ecosystems, but continued monitoring is essential to assess their long-term effect.