DNA metabarcoding of zooplankton communities: species diversity and seasonal variation revealed by 18S rRNA and COI

Zooplankton is an important component of aquatic organisms and has important biological and economical significance in freshwater ecosystems. However, traditional methods that rely on morphology to classify zooplankton require expert taxonomic skills. Moreover, traditional classification methods are time-consuming and labor-intensive, which is not practical for the design of conservation measures and ecological management tools based on zooplankton diversity assessment.