How can we study the diversity of zooplankton?
During the BioSWOT-Med cruise, Loic Guilloux is in charge of zooplankton sampling. Here he explains the various analyses that will later be carried out in the laboratory to assess zooplankton diversity.
Loic Guilloux.
OCEANOGRAPHERS' INSTRUMENTS - Loic Guillox is a research engineer at the CNRS and works at the Institut Méditerranéen d'Océanographie (MIO). As part of the BioSWOT-Med campaign, he is responsible for sampling zooplankton communities.
What instruments do you use to sample and study the diversity of zooplankton?
During the BioSWOT-Med campaign, I will be using nets of different mesh sizes to sample zooplankton of different sizes.
Back in the laboratory, these samples will be analysed in a number of ways. Firstly, thanks to the expertise of the zooplankton, a taxonomic identification and a count will be carried out using stereomicroscopy.
Secondly, by digital imaging using the ZooScan, a device that produces digital images of zooplankton samples and can process the samples quickly and semi-automatically. All the images taken with the ZooScan will be stored on the MIO server for later analysis.
Finally, isotope analyses will enable us to assess the diet of zooplankton.
Contact: Tosca Ballerini
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