## A Quick User Guide for Biomimetic Loggers in Mountain Landscapes
### Maintenance and Storage of Equipment  
With proper maintenance, the equipment should provide years of accurate and reliable measurements. In the case of a study conducted over several years, there are two scenarios: either the monitoring is continuous or the monitoring is discontinuous. In the case of a continuous installation, the equipment is installed permanently for the duration of the study, and in this case there is no maintenance or storage as such. However, depending on the frequency of data collection, two points should be checked. First, the functioning of the equipment in place--in general, the flashing of a led attests to this, but one must be vigilant when reading it, especially in full light, and be patient, the frequency of flashing is sometimes irregular and may differ according to the data-logger. Second, the level of residual energy--it is essential to check the batteries, or change them as a precaution, especially if the monitoring time is longer than the life span declared by the manufacturer (for the Onset HOBO(r) Pro v2 U23-00x series, see for example: [[https://www.onsetomp.com/files/manual_pdfs/10694-H-MAN-U23.pdf](https://www.onsetomp.com/files/manual_pdfs/10694-H-MAN-U23.pdf)]([https://www.onsetomp.com/files/manual_pdfs/10694-H-MAN-U23.pdf](https://www.onsetomp.com/files/manual_pdfs/10694-H-MAN-U23.pdf))). In the harsh mountain environment, especially with low winter temperatures, battery life is shortened. In the case of a discontinuous installation, the equipment is installed several times (and therefore removed as many times) throughout the duration of the study, and in this case there is minimal maintenance and storage precautions during the period of non-use in the field. This is the case, for example, in a study conducted over several years, with deployment of equipment only during each breeding period. In the case of our study, conducted from 2017 to 2021 in the context of the program \"Climate Sentinels\" ([[https://www.sentinelles-climat.org/](https://www.sentinelles-climat.org/)]([https://www.sentinelles-climat.org/](https://www.sentinelles-climat.org/))), equipment was deployed only during the breeding period of the species concerned; over the five years, equipment was thus installed and removed five consecutive times. It is more prudent, when the technical configuration of the equipment allows it, to disassemble the simple elements and dry them carefully (without, of course, touching the connectors and the electronic circuits). Some types of equipment, for example the HOBO(r) Pro v2 Onset with one or two temperature sensors that we use and more generally the HOBO(r) Pro v2 U23-00x Onset series, contain bags of desiccant (Silicagel(r) type), which can be changed before each new installation or dried (oven or hair dryer). Between each deployment period, the equipment is stored under the conditions prescribed by the manufacturer, which correspond at least, as common sense dictates, to average temperatures in a dry place. It is more prudent to remove the batteries during this period to avoid problems associated with maintaining batteries in any type of equipment. If the equipment has markings, it is useful to check that these are legible and if necessary to renew them. In the case of the HOBO(r) Pro v2 External Temperature/External Temperature Data Logger Onset hardware we use, the data-logger wire connecting the probe (placed inside the biomimetic model) to the case of data-logger will be examined and repaired (e.g., taped) if traces of injury or bites appear on these wires; an alternative is to change the wire when possible. Last but not the least, quality control is key to the success of a program. Before each deployment period, the reliability of the data-logger probe is checked. Quantity recording by the data-logger and the associated probe can be launched in a controlled environment where the quantity is also measured by another reliable probe.