## A Quick User Guide for Biomimetic Loggers in Mountain Landscapes
### Installation  
Once in the field, you need to know how to install the equipment. The procedure obviously depends on the points discussed in Section 6.1. In our case study, we measured operative temperatures of lizards in mountain scree. In this case, the simplest installation consisted of placing the PVC tube imitating the surface lizard on a rock (see Figure 1) and hiding the case of the data-logger in the scree, taking care to protect the connection cable, which is vulnerable in an environment as mobile and exposed as a high mountain scree. A variant allows to measure not only the operative temperature outside as before, but also the operative temperature of a lizard hidden in the scree, mimicking the conditions prevailing in the rocky outcrop (sheltered from the heat); in this case, it is advisable to use a HOBO(r) U23 Pro v2 Onset data-logger with two External Temperature sensors. For the study of amphibians, where water loss may be of equal or greater importance than the thermal aspects, the biomimetic models used may be physical models in agarose (other possibilities exist, as discussed in [138; 139], for example) coupled with data-loggers recording both temperature and relative humidity such as HOBO(r) U23 Pro v2 External Temperature/Relative Humidity Data-Logger; they allow to estimate the frequency of exceeding the limits of the thermal optimum (Topt) in conjunction with the critical water loss by evaporation (EWLcrit) as recently done by [135]. Depending on the biological question and the number of available biomimetic loggers, the deployment can be carried out in one or more occasions, over more or fewer sampling points. All biomimetic loggers can be deployed in the field and data will be collected only once at the end of the study [11]. It is also possible to deploy them on a sampling point for a certain time period, then collect the data and move them to another point and so on [140]. Moreover, they can be deployed always on the same micro-habitat, exposed rock to the sun [11] or on different micro-habitats, exposed and shaded rocks, different shelters [5; 63]. The method of [140], which is slightly more constraining to implement, could allow the study of a larger number of habitat types while having a low number of biomimetic loggers. However, if it is necessary to obtain the data over the same time period, the first will be preferred. A biomimetic logger network allow to apprehend all the existing variability felt by species within the studied habitat [113]. Massive deployment will also minimize the dependency between the biomimetic logger location and the measurements [83]. NOTA: Design considerations are not addressed here; they are linked to issues that can be turned into questions beginning with the words: How much? Where? These very important aspects fall within the concepts of protocol and experimental design, which are covered in the specialized manuals. This field of knowledge is evolving very quickly. It is important to remember that it is essential to use probability sampling designs, without which data processing may be difficult and/or give biased estimates that prohibit or render abusive any inference [141; 142; 143; 144]. Where there is no constraint other than to ensure the most spatially balanced distribution across study sites, there are spatially balanced sampling designs that are particularly useful [145]. Regardless of the probabilistic aspects underlying the design of the installation protocol, common sense must be respected with certain situations to be avoided as far as possible: peaks and edges of trails that are too crowded with tourists and hikers, areas subject to periodic maintenance fires, mountain areas that concentrate livestock or with an increased risk of trampling, cliff edges, crests exposed to strong winds, etc.