1. Project challenges

The Pyrenean high mountain lakes and peat bogs are iconic elements of the landscape and the history of the territory. Their management and conservation, within the current context of climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressure, requires a detailed knowledge of the biotic and abiotic processes in these systems, which should include their natural variability and the synergistic effects of the anthropogenic activities on the climate change. The REPLIM project aims to establish a monitoring network in lakes and peat bogs of the Pyrenees in order to characterize the impact of climate change on these vulnerable high mountain ecosystems, both locally and throughout the territory. The REPLIM network will also make it possible to identify the impacts that occurred before the industrial revolution and the Great Acceleration of the second half of the 20^th century, and quantify the most recent ones. Finally, the REPLIM project will attempt to model the effects that the projected climate change will have on these ecosystems in the near future.

2. Project objectives

REPLIM aims to contribute to the challenge of assessing the impact of climate change in the territory and the development of mitigation and adaptation policies based on scientific knowledge. To this end, REPLIM focuses on increasing cooperation between scientists, managers and citizens from the Pyrenean area, with the objective of establishing a network of observatories of lakes and peatlands that make possible to characterize the climate change and its effects along the Pyrenees. The main objectives of the project are to:

1. Establish a monitoring network of lakes and peatlands that brings together scientists and managers specialized in climate change research in high mountain systems.

2. Define the most appropriate protocols for the characterization of the impacts of CC and human activities in the lakes and peat bogs of the Pyrenees

3. Prepare a report on the current situation of the lakes and peat bogs of the Pyrenees, their recent evolution and the possible impacts of the CC on them

4. Encourage and Integrate citizen science activities into the network

 3. Methodology

With the aim of identifying the most appropriate protocols and indicators to characterize the effects of CC and on high mountain lakes and peat bogs in the Pyrenees, a multidisciplinary methodology will be applied to the sites of the network. It will include the:

• Installation of temperature sensors at different depths and sediment traps in lakes
• Installation of piezometers to periodically determine the water table depth in peatlands
• Determination of periodic output flow in peatland by means of permanent weirs
• Seasonal measurements of the chemical composition and some biological properties in waters
• Measurement of greenhouse gas fluxes in peatlands
• Development of common procedures to be followed to carry out the samplings and subsequent analytical determination in the selected lakes and peatlands
• Processing of the monitoring results in order to know the physicochemical and biological state of the selected lakes and peatlands
• Development of participation and citizen science programs that will make the public aware of the impacts of climate change, helping to define a management strategy integrated with the social and economic development of the Pyrenean territory
• Presentation of the final results in an interactive geoportal to allow the dissemination of results to managers and citizens and facilitate the understanding of the effect of the climate change on these sensitive ecosystems.

 4. Results

The results of REPLIM will contribute to the development and implementation of the Pyrenean Climate Change Observatory strategy and action plan for the 2016-2019 period.

The main expected results of the project will be the:

• Establishment of a network of climate change observatories located in Pyrenean lakes and peatlands that are sustainable and lasting over time.
• Publication of a methodological manual describing the monitoring protocols in the field applicable to the requirements of the Habitats Directive (HD) and the Water Framework Directive (WFD).
• Development of computer tools for the collection, storage and management of the information generated, in order to assess the impacts of climate change on sensitive high mountain ecosystems.
• Substantial improvement of the knowledge of the current status of the selected Pyrenean peat bogs and lakes, as well as of their evolution in recent centuries and their status at the beginning of the 20th century, prior to global warming. Moreover, the project will give valuable information to assess the potential effect of future scenarios of climate change in lakes and peat bogs.
• Promotion of citizen participation for the collection of data in the selected ecosystems thereby increasing awareness of the problems related to climate change.

5. Project partners

The partners that take part in the REPLIM project are distributed and work in different areas of the Pyrenean territory:

Partner	Corporate logo	Region / CCAA
Spanish National Research Council		Aragon, Catalonia
National Centre for Scientific Research (Franc)		Occitanie
University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour		Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Bask Country University		Bask Country
University of Navarra		Navarra
Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals		Catalonia

The project has been 65% cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg V-A Spain France Andorra programme (POCTEFA 2014-2020). POCTEFA aims to reinforce the economic and social integration of the French–Spanish–Andorran border. Its support is focused on developing economic, social and environmental cross-border activities through joint strategies favouring sustainable territorial development.