{"id":17569,"date":"2025-09-03T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/?p=17569"},"modified":"2025-09-01T14:15:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T12:15:26","slug":"nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/","title":{"rendered":"New pilot test for the ecological restoration of high-mountain lakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The intervention will take place at Tres Estanys del Mig<\/strong> and Tres Estanys de Baix<\/strong>, within the Parc Natural de l\u2019Alt Pirineu<\/strong>, with the dual objective of ecologically restoring these lakes and deepening the study of the effectiveness of rotenone \u2014a biodegradable ichthyocide\u2014 as a tool for controlling introduced species. This is the second application of its kind in the Pyrenees, following the successful operation carried out in 2024<\/a> at estany Manh\u00e8ra<\/strong> (Val d\u2019Aran).<\/h4>\n

The initiative is part of a broader strategy to restore high-mountain aquatic habitats within the framework of the LIFE RESQUE ALPYR<\/strong> project<\/a>, with the aim of turning the restored lakes into reservoirs of biodiversity and ecological corridors.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The problem of the minnow<\/h4>\n

One of the main threats to high-mountain lakes is the introduction of fish species, which reduce the diversity of native species and alter the balance of the ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Among these fish is the minnow (Phoxinus spp.<\/em>). It is the species with the greatest ecological impact and, at the same time, the most difficult to control demographically. It is a small cyprinid with rapid growth and a high reproductive rate, showing great adaptability and forming dense populations.<\/p>\n

Conventional capture techniques used for eliminating fish in high-mountain lakes do not always yield satisfactory results when minnows are present. For this reason, it is necessary to explore alternative methods.<\/p>\n

Rotenone: an innovative solution<\/h4>\n

Rotenone is a natural biodegradable ichthyocide extracted from various species of tropical and subtropical plants belonging to the legume family. These plants, and others with toxic properties such as those of the genus Verbascum<\/em>, were traditionally used for fishing in rivers and ponds around the world depending on the plant species available, including in the Pyrenees.<\/p>\n

In the environment, rotenone degrades quickly, persisting for only a few days or weeks. Until now, its use as an ichthyocide has been concentrated in North America, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Northern Europe, especially Norway, with some occasional experiences in the rest of Europe, including Spain.<\/p>\n

The LIFE RESQUE ALPYR<\/strong> project foresees two pilot tests with rotenone, pioneering actions in the context of Europe\u2019s high mountains. These actions are intended to provide crucial data to assess the effectiveness and safety of this product, contributing to the development of safe protocols for the use of piscicides \u2014a strategic step to reverse the impact of minnow introduction in high-mountain lakes.<\/p>\n

Pioneering pilot tests with a strong demonstrative component<\/h4>\n

One of these two pilot tests has already been carried out, in 2024 at estany Manh\u00e8ra<\/strong> (Val d\u2019Aran). This is, to date, the only precedent of rotenone application in a high-mountain lake in Europe. The operation was successful, as the minnow was eradicated and the lake is now recovering its biodiversity, with the recolonisation of amphibians and various invertebrate species such as dragonflies that had disappeared following the introduction of the minnow.<\/p>\n

In the Tres Estanys<\/strong> area, two applications are planned: a first one in the estany de Tres Estanys del Mig<\/strong>, and a few weeks later, in the estany de Tres Estanys de Baix<\/strong>. The objective is the ecological restoration of these sites, as well as to expand knowledge on the use of rotenone in a more complex scenario, acting on two lakes whose combined volume is three times that of estany Manh\u00e8ra<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The intervention will be carried out by Sorell\u00f3, Estudis al Medi Aqu\u00e0tic, S.L.<\/strong> and the Associaci\u00f3 La Sorellona<\/strong>, with scientific coordination and supervision from the Centre d\u2019Estudis Avan\u00e7ats de Blanes (CEAB, CSIC)<\/strong> and the Institut de Diagn\u00f2stic Ambiental i Estudis de l\u2019Aigua (IDAEA, CSIC)<\/strong>, with direct support from the Parc Natural de l\u2019Alt Pirineu<\/strong> and Forestal Catalana<\/strong>. The whole process will be overseen by specialists from Norway, a leading country in this type of application, and through a rigorous monitoring programme to guarantee the safety and effectiveness of this innovative technique.<\/p>\n

The LIFE RESQUE ALPYR project<\/h4>\n

This project<\/strong> <\/a>aims to restore mountain aquatic habitats by improving the conservation of various habitats and species in four Natura 2000 sites in the alpine biogeographical regions of the Pyrenees and the Alps.<\/p>\n

It is co-financed by the LIFE 2020<\/strong> programme of the European Union, which promotes actions for the conservation and recovery of habitats and species of flora and fauna in protected areas within the European Natura 2000<\/strong> network. It is coordinated by the CEAB-CSIC<\/strong>. On the Catalan side, project partners include the Departament d\u2019Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca i Alimentaci\u00f3 de la Generalitat de Catalunya<\/strong>, the Conselh Generau d’Aran<\/strong>, the Universitat de Barcelona<\/strong>, the IDAEA-CSIC<\/strong>, the companies Forestal Catalana<\/strong> and Sorell\u00f3 Estudis al Medi Aqu\u00e0tic<\/strong>, and La Sorellona<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

On the Italian side, partners include the Mont Avic Natural Park, the Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Pavia, the Universit\u00e0 della Calabria, and the Istituto di Ricerca Sulle Acque del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IRSA-CNR). In addition, the Fundaci\u00f3 Andrena, the Gran Paradiso National Park in Italy, and the Espot Town Council and Lladorre Town Council participate as co-financiers.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The intervention will take place at Tres Estanys del Mig and Tres Estanys de Baix, within the Parc Natural de l\u2019Alt Pirineu, with the dual objective of ecologically restoring these lakes and deepening the study of the effectiveness of rotenone \u2014a biodegradable ichthyocide\u2014 as a tool for controlling introduced species. This is the second application… New pilot test for the ecological restoration of high-mountain lakes<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17566,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[468],"tags":[1482,1468,1338,1698,1731,1099,1187,1608,1188,1139,1341,1081,1328,1624,1329,146],"class_list":["post-17569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-ecosistemes-alta-muntanya-en","tag-especies-invasores-en","tag-estanys-en","tag-europa-en","tag-europe","tag-invasive-species","tag-lakes","tag-limnologia-en","tag-limnology","tag-mountain-ecosystem","tag-restauracio-en","tag-restoration","tag-science-for-policy-en","tag-transfer","tag-transferencia-en","tag-transferencia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew pilot test for the ecological restoration of high-mountain lakes | CEAB<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New pilot test for the ecological restoration of high-mountain lakes | CEAB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The intervention will take place at Tres Estanys del Mig and Tres Estanys de Baix, within the Parc Natural de l\u2019Alt Pirineu, with the dual objective of ecologically restoring these lakes and deepening the study of the effectiveness of rotenone \u2014a biodegradable ichthyocide\u2014 as a tool for controlling introduced species. This is the second application… New pilot test for the ecological restoration of high-mountain lakes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CEAB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-03T07:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/actuacio-estany-Manhera-Val-Aran.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"870\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"491\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Noem\u00ed Guillem\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ceabcsic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ceabcsic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Noem\u00ed Guillem\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/\",\"name\":\"New pilot test for the ecological restoration of high-mountain lakes | CEAB\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/actuacio-estany-Manhera-Val-Aran.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-03T07:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/9e98e5f2473d1f6aad49dbda849efb50\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/actuacio-estany-Manhera-Val-Aran.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/actuacio-estany-Manhera-Val-Aran.jpg\",\"width\":870,\"height\":491},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Inici\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New pilot test for the ecological restoration of high-mountain lakes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/\",\"name\":\"CEAB\",\"description\":\"Centre Estudis Avan\u00e7ats de Blanes\",\"alternateName\":\"CEAB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/9e98e5f2473d1f6aad49dbda849efb50\",\"name\":\"Noem\u00ed Guillem\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cab253f6fa7b0ce5e36e74def0a60f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cab253f6fa7b0ce5e36e74def0a60f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Noem\u00ed Guillem\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New pilot test for the ecological restoration of high-mountain lakes | CEAB","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New pilot test for the ecological restoration of high-mountain lakes | CEAB","og_description":"The intervention will take place at Tres Estanys del Mig and Tres Estanys de Baix, within the Parc Natural de l\u2019Alt Pirineu, with the dual objective of ecologically restoring these lakes and deepening the study of the effectiveness of rotenone \u2014a biodegradable ichthyocide\u2014 as a tool for controlling introduced species. This is the second application… New pilot test for the ecological restoration of high-mountain lakes","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/","og_site_name":"CEAB","article_published_time":"2025-09-03T07:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":870,"height":491,"url":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/actuacio-estany-Manhera-Val-Aran.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Noem\u00ed Guillem","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ceabcsic","twitter_site":"@ceabcsic","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Noem\u00ed Guillem","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/","name":"New pilot test for the ecological restoration of high-mountain lakes | CEAB","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/actuacio-estany-Manhera-Val-Aran.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-03T07:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/9e98e5f2473d1f6aad49dbda849efb50"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/actuacio-estany-Manhera-Val-Aran.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/actuacio-estany-Manhera-Val-Aran.jpg","width":870,"height":491},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/nova-prova-pilot-per-la-restauracio-ecologica-destanys-dalta-muntanya\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Inici","item":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New pilot test for the ecological restoration of high-mountain lakes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/","name":"CEAB","description":"Centre Estudis Avan\u00e7ats de Blanes","alternateName":"CEAB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/9e98e5f2473d1f6aad49dbda849efb50","name":"Noem\u00ed Guillem","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cab253f6fa7b0ce5e36e74def0a60f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cab253f6fa7b0ce5e36e74def0a60f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Noem\u00ed Guillem"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17569"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17577,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17569\/revisions\/17577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ceab.csic.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}