Contentslistsavailableat ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint Ontheoriginofaremotemountainousnaturalreserve:Insightsfromatopo- bathymetryreconstructionoftheglaciallakeofTruchillas(NWSpain) J. Fernández-Lozano a,∗ ,R.Andrés-Bercianos b a Prospection and Mining Research Area, Department of Mining Technology, Topography and Structures, Higher and Technical School of Mines, University of León, Campus de Vegazana s/n, 24071, León, Spain b Parque Tecnológico de León, 24009, León, Spain ARTICLEINFO Keywords: Landscape reconstruction LiDAR Digital elevation models Bathymetry Portableechosounder ABSTRACT Habitat characterization is a basic requirement for monitoring and management of natural landscapes. Generally, ecologists and geomorphologists need tools that allow them to provide thematic information for suitable management plans development. Thus, the production of three-dimensional (3-D) landscape re- constructions provides relevant information for decision-makers and stakeholders. This situation is extra- ordinarily complex in natural reserves, where intrinsic and extrinsic decisive factors such as preservation po- licies,managementplansandpresenceofabruptrelief,amongthemostimportantones,playanimportantrole ontheevolutionoftheecosystems.Generally,agoodcharacterizationoftheirenvironmentalconditionsbased onsurface3Dmodelsinvolvesalargeamountoftime,resources,andhighcosts.Weexplorethepotentialofa combined approach based on bathymetric and topographic data from echo sounding and airborne laser tech- nology for an accurate and reliable representation of the landscape of a natural monument in NW Spain. The proposed approach provides a cost-efective, rapid and robust method for the production of Digital Elevation Models(DEMs)necessaryforanappropriateinterpretationofthegenesisandmorphologyofthelakeandthe developmentofefective conservation and management strategies. 1. Introduction In the last few years, the European Union increased its interest in the conservation and development of natural areas. Thus, initiatives suchastheNatura2000(whichoccupies16.63%ofthetotalsurfacein Spain only in Castile and León, Directive 92/43/CEE) emerged to protect natural habitats ensuring the long-term survival of Europe's broaddiversity(Ostermann, 1998). Castile and Leon provides one of the largest numbers of Spanish nature reserves: 10 biosphere reserves, 2 national parks, 12 natural parks, 2 regional parks, 5 nature reserves, 6 natural monuments, 1 RAMSAR site and 14 undeclared spaces. However, such diversity of habitats has led to important problems concerning the control and protection of these areas. One of the major impacts afecting natural landscapes is related to the environmental stress provoked mostly by therapidincreaseinthenumberofvisitsoccurredinthepastyears. The lake Truchillas represents an outstanding geomorphological andnaturalwetlandinNWSpain(Fig.1),whichlacksanyplanningand decision-makinginstrumentafteritsdeclarationasanaturalmonument in1992(Redondo-Vegaetal.,2014).Suchistheinterestofthisnature reserve that was recently included within a dozen of Geological Heri- tageSites(LIGs)intheprovinceofLeón(Gallego-ValcarceandGarcía- Cortés, 1996; Fuertes-Gutiérrez and Fernández-Martínez, 2010). Most of the scientifc research carried out in the area was focused on the identifcation and description of fora and fauna of the lake and its surroundings (Negro et al., 2003; González de Paz et al., 2014), the environmentalanalysisformininginterventionduringthelast50years (Barettino-Fraile, 2002), and the geological and geomorphological re- cord (Llopis-Lladó and Fontboté, 1957; Otero, 1982; Redondo-Vega etal.,2002; Hall-Riazaetal.,2016).However,littleattentionwaspaid to the description and morphological characterization of this high mountainlake(Aragón,1913; IGME,1989; Fuentes-Pérezetal.,2015; Núñez-Labra, 2017). Moreover, none of the previous inventories pro- vides an accurate estimation and characterization of the lake depths and landscape reconstruction both needed for the preservation and development of touristic activities within the area, which may con- tributetoimprovingitsconservation. Recently, Redondo-Vegaetal.(2017),carriedoutanevaluationof mining activity in nature reserves of northern Spain. These authors suggest that major changes in land use occurred during the past 50 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.02.004 Received3December2019;Receivedinrevisedform31January2020;Accepted3February2020 ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: jferl@unileon.es (J. Fernández-Lozano). Quaternary International xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx 1040-6182/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: J. Fernández-Lozano and R. Andrés-Bercianos, Quaternary International, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.02.004