PyriSentinel
Exploration of invisible biodiversity in Pyrenean lakes, sentinels of climate change, through high-resolution portable genomics.
PyriSentinel is a cross-border collaborative project led by Hannah Benisty from the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in coordination with the Ecological and Forestry Applications Research Centre (CREAF), Andorra Recerca + Innovació (ARI), and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale (CNRS-SETE). The aim of PyriSentinel is to explore the invisible biodiversity in Pyrenean lakes, which act as sentinels of climate change, through high-resolution portable genomics.
The high mountain lakes of the Pyrenees are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of global change and are representative of high mountain lakes in the northern hemisphere. This project will study the microorganisms in over 300 high mountain lakes using advanced and innovative DNA sequencing techniques. Characterizing the biodiversity of microorganisms is crucial for assessing ecosystem productivity, as they play roles in nutrient cycling, water purification, and interactions with macroorganisms. It is also essential for evaluating the potential impact of climate change on these reservoirs. The resulting data and metadata from this study will be deposited in publicly available repositories as they are collected. Additionally, a training program will be developed for local and regional community stakeholders, such as national park managers, so that they can use the biomonitoring tools generated to continue studying microorganism diversity in the long term.
The project is co-financed at 65% by the European Union through the Interreg VI-A Spain-France-Andorra Program (POCTEFA 2021-2027) with the objective of strengthening the economic and social integration of the Spain-France-Andorra border area.
