The Humboldt Current System off the coast of Peru is an eastern boundary upwelling system, where trade winds push surface waters offshore, allowing cold, nutrient-rich deep waters present to reach the surface. This process fuels high primary production in surface waters, making the region one of the most biologically productive in the world. As a result, its fisheries account for approximately 10% of global fish catches. Despite its importance, the ecosystem’s sensitivity to environmental change—especially events like El Niño—remains poorly understood. Yet, shifts in phytoplankton composition or structure are known to have wide-reaching impacts on the efficiency of the food web. One reason for this knowledge gap is the difficulty of studying the diverse phytoplankton groups together, as their sizes span several orders of magnitude.

DEEP-UP (Deep-Learning Applied to Phytoplankton from the Peruvian Upwelling) aims to study how phytoplankton communities respond to environmental forcing off the coast of Peru. It includes the development of low-cost solutions for automatic image acquisition and image recognition, and a scientific assessment of the spatio-temporal changes affecting the phytoplankton community in this productive ecosystem.  

Funding: IRD

Partners: IMARPE, MIO, LOCEAN

Dates: 2023-2025

PI: Camille Godbillot, CEREGE