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Alvaro Fueyo

@afueyo.bsky.social
597 followers 558 following 31 posts

Applying and developing DNA-based molecular tools for the study of ecosystems and biodiversity. Working at #TaxusMedioAmbiente. Spain. Metabarcoding | eDNA | Phylogenetics | Pop Gen

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Reposted by Alvaro Fueyo
Lynsey Harper @lynseyrharper.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Tom Hughes presents LIMPET - a new pipeline for detecting erroneous sequences in reference databases for #metabarcoding. Some databases contain more errors than others, but even highly curated databases can contain errors that will impact taxonomic assignment and ecological inference #UKDNAWG26
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Journal of Applied Ecology @jappliedecology.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
📖Published! Comparing passive and active kelp restoration techniques along an urbanised coast🌿 Passive restoration through water quality improvements facilitates substantial kelp gains, offers increased scalability and provides broader ecosystem benefits across seascape scales🌊 🔎 buff.ly/3KHXyVt
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Our new paper is out in Oikos. We link the evolutionary history of seagrasses with the latitudinal distributions of extant species, showing that ancestral niche legacy still shapes present-day ranges and diversification patterns. doi.org/10.1002/oik.11820
doi.org
Connecting the distribution and diversification of marine plants
Integration of the evolutionary history with distribution of extant species is necessary to explain present-day diversity, particularly for ‘foundation' species, such as seagrasses, which create habi...
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Reposted by Alvaro Fueyo
GES4SEAS MOOCs @ges4seas-mooc.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 04/02/2026
Now, it has achieved a good ecological status, sensu #WFD, for most of the ecosystem components, such as #phytoplankton, #benthos or #fish…. This has happened in many other European countries, thanks to the #WFD #GES4SEAS #MOOC #oceanoptimism
graphic describing the recovery of different ecosystem components, by Elliott, M., Á. Borja, R. Cormier, 2025. Managing marine resources sustainably – But how do we know when marine management has been successful? Ocean & Coastal Management, 265: 107623.
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Reposted by Alvaro Fueyo
Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
We've got ISSUES. Literally. We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do? arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563 A 🧵 1/n
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Natalie Cooper @nhcooper123.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Excited to launch the new improved Reproducible Code guide from @britishecologicalsociety.org @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social FREE online here! www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/... Amazing work by some very talented ECRs. We hope it’s useful!
Book cover for Reproducible Code guide. The cover has a red background with a large yellow-bodied black-headed stag beetle.
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Reposted by Alvaro Fueyo
Anthony Ricciardi @ecoinvasions.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
environment.ec.europa.eu/news/conserv...
environment.ec.europa.eu
Conservation paradoxes: 36 species which are invasive in some areas but still need protecting elsewhere.
Issue 623: Some species are invasive and economically costly in some areas, but conservation priorities in others. A study identifies 36 such species, finding them to be conservation priorities due to...
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ARPHA Preprints @preprints.arphahub.com · 31/10/2025
DNA barcoding reference dataset revealed overlooked diversity and clarified biogeography of fishes in the largest European river system – Volga River. 🔗 doi.org/10.3897/arph... @mbmg.pensoft.net
doi.org
DNA barcoding reference dataset revealed overlooked diversity and clarified biogeography of fishes in the largest European river system – Volga River
This study represents the first thorough genetic assessment of freshwater fishes from the Volga River basin – the longest (3,690 km) river in Europe. DNA barcode sequences (COI) were studied in ...
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
🌊 A few weeks ago I shared my PhD roadmap on metabarcoding for river biomonitoring — with a focus on peninsular Spain. What’s working, what isn’t, and what’s next for our freshwater ecosystems. 🔬
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Reposted by Alvaro Fueyo
Zsófia Horváth @zsofiahorvath.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
Looking for openly available: - before-after data in space - with a restoration measure inbetween (e.g. dam/invasive spec. removal, urban green space creation...) - min. 10 sites (quadrats / random places along a stream / ponds...) - species data, env. data of some sort, GPS coordinates
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MARE @marescience.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
New Publication in The Journal of Fish Biology! "Hidden in the gut: Metabarcoding reveals overlooked predation by the invasive European catfish (Silurus glanis)" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
Had a great time at the SEM Malacology Forum presenting two research projects — one poster on the restoration of the Piles River and an oral communication on the sequencing of Iberian freshwater molluscs. 🐚🌊 #Malacology #Biodiversity #Metabarcoding
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Metabarcoding and Metagenomics @mbmg.pensoft.net · 03/10/2025
DNA metabarcoding identifies more invertebrate species under the Water Framework Directive than conventional methods, showing promise for faster and finer river health monitoring in Slovakia’s Carpathian streams. 🔗 doi.org/10.3897/mbmg...
doi.org
Evaluating the potential of DNA metabarcoding for ecological status assessment under the Water Framework Directive: A case study on benthic invertebrates from Western Carpathian streams
Routine biomonitoring under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) follows a conventional methodology primarily based on the morphological identification of taxa within the five biological quality elemen...
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Reposted by Alvaro Fueyo
Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
In massive #collaborative #effort, we assembled published & unpublished #fish 🐟 #eDNA 🧬 metabarcoding datasets, covering ~2000 sampling sites/>100 river systems globally. 🐟 🐠 🐡 🌐 🌍 Now results out in 2 #parallel #preprints @biorxiv-ecology.bsky.social #aquatic #biodiversity #meta-analysis 1/6🧵
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
To move from research to routine use, we propose a roadmap 🛣️ — focused on implementation in Spain, but adaptable to other regions.
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
Why do results differ between bulk, eDNA & morphology? 🤔 We show in our article concrete examples from our data of false positives, false negatives & other sources of variability — and propose solutions. 📊 See the summary in the table 👇
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
💧 eDNA from rivers gave the most divergent results vs. bulk metabarcoding & morphology ID. 👉 Same pattern seen in other studies, even with a different methodology. ⏳ The spatiotemporal scale of the eDNA signal is still unclear — we must understand it better before using it in routine biomonitoring.
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
In our NW Spain case study, we compared three complementary approaches: 🧪 Bulk (homogenized) tissue metabarcoding 💧 eDNA (water sample) metabarcoding 🔎 Traditional morphological ID We examined false positives/negatives and other sources of variability driving discrepancies.
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
📢 We’ve just published the discussion & roadmap from my PhD thesis: a critical look at how metabarcoding of macroinvertebrates can (and cannot yet) be used for routine river biomonitoring. Let me walk you through the key take-homes, and where the method still needs work. 🧵 doi.org/10.1002/2688...
doi.org
Technical challenges in the implementation of macroinvertebrate DNA metabarcoding in river biomonitoring: A case study from peninsular Spain—Advantages, limitations and roadmap
This study evaluates the opportunities and challenges of using DNA metabarcoding of river macroinvertebrates for routine ecological status assessment under the EU Water Framework Directive. By reanal....
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
In just months, macroinvertebrates recolonised step by step. 📊 DNA metabarcoding + classical ID revealed a rapid shift from pioneer taxa to sensitive EPT groups (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera). Good ecological status achieved in under 2 years!
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Opening the bottom valves of the Matalavilla dam released the first ecological flows in half a century, breathing life back into the Valseco stream. 💧 A simple change, a huge ecological impact.
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Our new paper shows how a small Iberian stream, dry for 50 years, bounced back to good ecological status in <2 years after environmental flows were restored. 🌊🪱 👉 doi.org/10.1111/rec.70198 #RiverRestoration #EnvironmentalFlows #FreshwaterEcology
doi.org
Back to life after 50 years: effects of environmental flow restoration on macroinvertebrate biodiversity and river ecological status. A case study of the Valseco stream, Spain
The construction of dams and reservoirs to meet increasing water and electricity demands has significantly altered many natural river flows, posing threats to the ecological integrity of freshwater e...
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Philipp Bayer @philippbayer.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
It's actually amazing how long I've been waiting for this. No more guessing which column has the querycovperc! Plus, gzipped fastas for makeblastdb! Finally!
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Rayan Chikhi @rayanchikhi.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
🌎👩‍🔬 For 15+ years biology has accumulated petabytes (million gigabytes) of🧬DNA sequencing data🧬 from the far reaches of our planet.🦠🍄🌵 Logan now democratizes efficient access to the world’s most comprehensive genetics dataset. Free and open. doi.org/10.1101/2024...
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Reposted by Alvaro Fueyo
Philipp Bayer @philippbayer.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
This is great - we a huge need in the #eDNA community to have data-informed standards for eDNA identity cutoffs, not just the bog-standard 97% besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... For Chordata there is no cutoff that leads to 0% error when assigning species!! (Table S4)
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Taxon‐specific BLAST percent identity thresholds for identification of unknown sequences using metabarcoding
The identification of organisms in environmental samples using metabarcoding relies on factors such as taxonomic assignment methods, genetic markers, reference databases and confidence thresholds ...
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Reposted by Alvaro Fueyo
Science Magazine @science.org · 22/08/2025
Researchers have filmed thousands of climbing catfish scaling waterfalls, providing a rare insight into the daring migration of an enigmatic fish. Learn more: scim.ag/4lDlFux
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 22/07/2025
Replication Crisis xkcd.com/3117/
4-panel comic. (1) [Person 1 with ponytail flanked by person with short hair and another person speaking into microphone at podium] PERSON 1: In the early 2010s, researchers found that many major scientific results couldn’t be reproduced. (2) PERSON 1: Over a decade into the replication crisis, we wanted to see if today’s studies have become more robust. (3) PERSON 1: Unfortunately, our replication analysis has found exactly the same problems that those 2010s researchers did. (4) [newspaper with image of speakers from previous panels] Headline: Replication Crisis Solved
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Methods in Ecology and Evolution @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
📖Published📖 Sources of uncertainty in DNA metabarcoding of whole communities: Implications for its use in biomonitoring 🧬 🌍 🧪 Find the article here 👇 buff.ly/6zJRh9R
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Martin A. Nuñez @martin-nunez.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
We want to thank reviewer #2 for the very constructive comments. We were able to incorporate all of them. The manuscript is now much more clear.
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Birds of the World | The Cornell Lab @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
A monumental taxonomy unification effort has just been published - thanks to all those who've collaborated for years to make this happen! birdsoftheworld.org/bow/news/avi...
birdsoftheworld.org
Birds of the World - AviList: A Unified Global Checklist of the World’s Birds is Now Available
AviList, a unified global checklist of birds, that provides the most current and authoritative taxonomy of birds around the world was released today by experts in taxonomy, nomenclature, and bioinform...
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
Creo que croacia es del espacio schengen desde 2023 🤔
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
😇 Para los curiosos que se la quieran leer o al menos echar un vistazo, está disponible a través de este enlace: www.researchgate.net/publication/...
researchgate.net
(PDF) Assessing DNA metabarcoding and environmental DNA for biomonitoring fluvial ecosystems using macroinvertebrates in peninsular Spain
PDF | Fluvial ecosystems play a vital role in supporting biodiversity, providing freshwater, and sustaining human societies. Despite their importance,... | Find, read and cite all the research you nee...
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
Esta tesis ha desarrollado como un Doctorado Industrial en colaboración con Taxus Medio Ambiente y @universidadoviedo.bsky.social. Y ha sido financiada por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación y la agencia Sekuens del Principado de Asturias. @crueuniversidades.bsky.social @filarramendi.bsky.social
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
💡Para acabar identificamos todos los retos que tienen estas técnicas hasta su implementación efectiva en la península ibérica y planteamos un hoja de ruta para trabajar en solventarlos.
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
🐛En cuestión de dos años el arroyo Valseco recuperó la diversidad de Macroinvertebrados y alcanzó el estado "Bueno" en todos sus tramos. Demostrando que la recuperación del caudal ecológico es una herramienta útil para devolver nuestros ríos a la vida. 😄
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
💦 En el estudio de restauración fluvial ¡buenas noticias! Estudiamos cómo se recuperaba la comunidad de macroinvertebrados en río que llevaba más de 50 años SECO debido a la construcción de la Presa de Matalavilla (León) en 1967. En Diciembre de 2020 el arroyo Valseco recuperó su caudal ecológico.
Presa de Matalavilla (León) tras la instalación de dos desagües de fondo de chorro huevo para dejar el caudal ecológico.Esquema de los puntos de muestreo y visión satelital del arroyo Valseco, el río salentinos (Receptror) y la presa de Matalavilla.
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
🔍 ¿Qué descubrimos? - Todavía faltan por secuenciar el 21% de las especies de la península ibérica. - El metabarcoding de muestras Bulk da resultados más cercanos a los métodos clásicos. - El eDNA complementa: detecta especies diferentes, probablemente provenientes de tramos superiores del río.
Esquema que muestra el procesado de las morfoespecies de macroinvertebrados recolectadas en las muestras hasta su secuenciación e identificación en las bases de datos de referencia.Gráfico donde se muestran los valores de disimilaridad de Jaccard para la composición de macroinvertebrados entre los diferentes tipos de muestra (eDNA- Bulk) y metodologías aplicadas (Identificación morfológica o Molecular)
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
📍 Aplicamos estas técnicas en más de 100 muestras de ríos del norte de España. - Primero para secuenciar las especies una a una y tener secuencias de referencia. - Después para comparar las diferentes metodologías. - Incluso usamos un caso real de restauración fluvial en León.
Mapa del Norte de España donde se muestran los puntos donde se han tomado las diferentes muestras.
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
🧬 ¿Y si usamos el ADN en vez de microscopios? He usado parte de su material genético a modo de código de barras (Metabarcoding) y dos tipos de muestras diferentes como fuente de ADN: - Un batido de Macroinvertebrados (muestra Bulk). - ADN ambiental (muestra eDNA) obtenido de filtrar agua del río.
Muestreo de Agua para la obtención de ADN ambiental de MacroinvertebradosToma de una muestra Bulk en el río Navia aguas abajo de la presa del embalse de Grandas de Salime (Asturias)
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
🦟Los indicadores biológicos (organismos que viven en el agua) nos aportan mucha información sobre el estado del río. Uno de los grupos de organismos más utilizados son unos pequeños animales acuáticos llamados macroinvertebrados. El problema: identificarlos a ojo es lento, caro y complejo.
Esquema de los macroinvertebrados de río como bioindicadores. Se muestras los cuatro filos que los componen (Artrópodos, moluscos anélidos y Platelmintos) y las características que hacen a este grupo tan útil (Presentes en todos los ríos, Mayoritariamente sedentarios, Respuesta rápida a impactos, Presentan efectos acumulativos y respuestas heterogéneas a los impactos).
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
📖 La Directiva Directiva Marco del Agua 2000/60/CE estableció una normas para todos los estados miembros de la Unión Europea. Por la cual se evalúa el estado químico (Contaminantes) y el estado ecológico (elementos Fisicoquímicos, Hidromorfológicos, y lo más importante para esta tesis: Biológicos)
Esquema de parámetros y elementos a tener en cuenta para la caracterización del estado de un río, de acuerdo a la directiva Marco del Agua. Estado ecológico y estado químico.
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
💧 Los ríos son esenciales: sostienen la biodiversidad y nos proveen de agua. Pero los últimos datos disponibles indican que menos de la mitad de los ríos europeos estaban en buen estado. ¿Cómo podemos saber su estado ecológico de forma fiable?
Estado ecológico de las masas de agua superficiales de europa en 2015 de acuerdo con la agencia europea del agua en su informe de 2018. https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/ecological-status-of-surface-waters
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
🧵 #HiloTesis | ¿Cómo se mide el estado de un río? ¿Puede el ADN decirnos si un río está sano? ¡Te cuento cómo he aplicado tecnologías basadas en ADN para evaluar la salud ecológica de los ríos en la Península Ibérica!
Álvaro Fueyo muestreando macroinvertebrados bentónicos en el río Nalón a su salida de la cueva de Deboyu en Asturias (España).
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Journal of Applied Ecology @jappliedecology.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Any excuse to post this blast from the past from the last AEET conference that I went to in Almería. Still probably the best poster I've seen in the last few years courtesy of @ibartomeus.bsky.social. #SIBECOLAEET2025
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Biological Recording Company @biologicalrecording.co.uk · 19/11/2024
The taxonomic biases in biodiversity data are growing over time. The amount of data we are collecting is growing, but the biases get bigger. We need to make a conscious effort to study the understudied! #SciComms #Science #Taxonomy 🧪 image from Troudet et al 2018 @natureportfolio.bsky.social
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spencer roberts 🦈 @unpopularscience.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
I will forever be haunted by this footage. Trawling has only been filmed underwater a few times in documentary history, and never with such clarity. What’s so heart-rending about these shots is watching how the animals don’t just get swept up — they swim for their lives. 🌎🦑🧪
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
NovaseqX for 150PE Nexseq 2000 for 300PE
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Alvaro Fueyo @afueyo.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
Thank you very much! 4 intense years. But now it's finished 💃. Now I just have to finish all the projects I procrastinated while I was doing the thesis 😅.
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Gabby Palomo, PhD @gabspalomo.bsky.social · 26/12/2024
Ok people. I’m drawing silhouettes this afternoon. If you have a paper coming up and you are in need of a #silhouette please let me know and I will have it ready today. As always I upload all my silhouettes to phylopic.org I also have tutorials on how to put a silhouette in a plot in R.
phylopic.org
PhyloPic
PhyloPic is an open database of free silhouette images of animals, plants, and other life forms, available for reuse under Creative Commons licenses. Download silhouettes for use in educational materi...
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Lisa Wolany @lisa-wolany.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Can insect bulk samples be used in #metabarcoding without homogenising them? Our research shows: it’s technically possible but yields poorer data and is more expensive and time-consuming. Paper out now: @mbmg.pensoft.net mbmg.pensoft.net/article/1298... @leeselab.bsky.social #nondestructivelysis
mbmg.pensoft.net
Homogenization of insect bulk samples yields more comprehensive yet comparable biodiversity data than non-destructive lysis
The rapid advancement of molecular biodiversity monitoring tools, particularly DNA metabarcoding, has improved specimen identification in bulk samples, such as those from Malaise traps, where traditio...
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