High-resolution in situ imaging reveals size-specific moonlight responses in zooplankton diel vertical migration.

ABSTRACT: Light is the primary cue driving zooplankton diel vertical migration (DVM), a strategy that balances predation risk with resource access. However, DVM is often oversimplified, with limited consideration of how light-driven risks and resource needs vary across taxa and life stages. This simplification is partly due to constraints on collecting high-resolution, size-resolved data -especially at night, when subtle shifts in illumination reshape nocturnal risk landscapes. To overcome these limitations, we deployed a high-resolution in situ modular Deep-focus Plankton Imager and an image-recognition approach to quantify fine scale DVM and body sizes of Cladocerans and Copepods in Lake Stechlin, Germany. Data was collected from day into night and across moonrise and was compared with environment

SUBMITTER: Dickerson AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12855829 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature