Plankton forms the foundation of marine food webs and are highly diverse. To identify and study plankton communities around Okinawa, the team combines environmental DNA (eDNA) sequencing with PlanktoScope, a small microscope that captures images automatically.
The resulting images and sequences are then processed with AI tools to build a curated database that documents the organisms present across Okinawa. This long-term record can help detect shifts associated with climate change, natural events, and human activity.
The tools and data could support ecosystem monitoring, contribute to aquaculture research, and provide useful information for fisheries and coral reef conservation. The project’s findings could also help guide future interventions in Okinawa’s marine ecosystems.
