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Jake Dalzell

@bitheolaidhe.bsky.social
791 followers 593 following 737 posts

botanist and micromycologist from Belfast luıḃeolaıḋe ⁊ mıcrıṁíceolaıḋe 'e ḃunaḋ Ḃéal Feırste PhD student in Aberystwyth studying plant and fungal communities and grassland restoration My websites: irishplants.org plantpathogens.net

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Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Science Magazine @science.org · 11h
Following backlash from scientists, CRANE says it has suspended all grant decisions for this funding call and committed to sending rejected proposals for human review. scim.ag/46Qiqv3
scim.ag
U.K. funder uses ‘AI triage’ to reject grant proposals—leaving researchers dismayed
The AI-based assessment, which wasn’t explicitly described in the funding call, has raised privacy and fairness concerns
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Yes it's what I see them on most often (possibly just because it's so common)
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
22-spot is feeding on Erysiphe heraclei :)
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Tabharfaidh muid "lus an churaí" air nó curry plant a bheadh agam air i mBéarla
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Yeah the measuring line in imagej isn't determined by the resolution of the image, I think it's stored as a vector. It's much faster and easier than counting pixels too!
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
You shouldn't need to rotate it for something like this. ImageJ lets you set the scale with a diagonal line. Rotating the image would add to the error as it blurs adjacent pixels.
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
couldn't you just import the image into ImageJ and set the scale with a known distance of say five 10um lines?
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
What stain are you using? I'm always having a hard time counting septa
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
It does look like a Cercospora. You could try the sticky tape method described here to check the spores are external. plantpathogens.net/methods/micr...
plantpathogens.net
Field Guide to Plant Pathogens
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Doassansiopsis hydrophila on Potamogeton on Monday - this is one of a group of fungi infecting aquatic plants, with large spore balls (~0.2mm) which presumably float to their next host. #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Spiranthes spiralis at Killard has ripe seeds and winter rosettes now. Field season officially over 🥲
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Which is fine, it just shouldn't be portrayed like it is in the article
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
These mixed sites are still vastly simplified relative to existing grasslands. I mostly want people to understand that species-rich grassland isn't something you can create by sowing a few Fabaceae and Centaurea. They are good but lack the specialised species you'd find in an ancient site.
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I'm not disputing that, but they are a completely different thing to species-rich grassland. I am not saying they are a bad thing, I'm saying that words should and do mean things and it is very unhelpful how articles like this conflate all fields with flowers in them as "meadows".
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Why is it that the media never consult an ecologist on articles like this? They conflate meadow with a sown pasture with a few herbaceous perennials. The Chicory in the picture isn't even native! Of course there are few claims beyond “he believes”. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘You can taste the land’: the Somerset farmer bringing wildflowers back to cheddar
Tom Calver has sacrificed milk yields to give his cows a more varied diet of plants and believes the result is better cheese and richer farmland
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
They are mostly fine if you have a decent microscope! Especially this time of year as you often get urediniospores and teliospores.
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
P. striiformoides I think yes but the other one no. For my actual research these will all be barcoded too (following doi.org/10.1007/S102...). In general grass rusts are a bit tricky and a lot of the taxonomy is only partially resolved.
doi.org
Toward resolving family-level relationships in rust fungi (Uredinales)
Rust fungi (Basidiomycota, Uredinales) consist of more than 7000 species of obligate plant pathogens that possess some of the most complex life cycles …
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
A lot of the Dactylis glomerata in our field is covered in this rust Puccinia striiformoides right now, which forms bright orange uredinia in narrow stripes. I also found a few plants with a coinfection of Puccinia graminis (I think), with larger warm brown uredinia. #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Thrilled to find a Giant Puffball today! My first in over 10 years! #FungiFriends
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Ar éigean a oibríos na huirlisí seo don Bhéarla, tá mé lánchinnte nach n-oibríonn siad don Ghaeilic.
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
This is the first year our Passiflora caerulea has successfully produced ripe fruit (they are pretty tasteless). Not something I ever expected in our garden.
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
your ID is correct
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Really interesting research on creating native prairies on urban soils in Colorado youtu.be/vq4WYYPEiJQ
youtu.be
The Native Seed Research Plot
YouTube video by Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't
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Reposted by Jake Dalzell
James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
“The super-rich have apocalypse fantasies of their own, built not on faith or ideology but on a calm and rational evaluation of how best to maintain their position; they would genuinely rather reign in hell than share in heaven” www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Naomi Klein: ‘Extreme wealth has a deranging effect. It turns you into a supremacist’
She’s tackled neoliberalism and the digital world, now the writer and activist is taking on tech billionaires. She explains how the super-rich are capitalising on climate and financial chaos in pursui...
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I definitely would've nabbed that for dinner!
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Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Dean Mac Cú Uladh @dmac00.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Bidens tripartita and Persicaria hydropiper from Loughbrickland, Co. Down - both last recorded in 1989 Such lovely wetland species
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
perhaps it was put up during the interregnum
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Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Martin @botanicalmartin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Lady's Bedstraw growing in the lawn at the community garden in Redcar. Makes a fantastic lawn plant as it doesn't mind being mown, will flower at a low level, and withstands drought well too. This its second flowering after the recent rains gave it a boost.
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I can't DM you but his email is alireza.alizadeh@senckenberg.de, he can give you an address to send it to if you're interested. These aren't generally IDable to species without sequencing (and many are undescribed) so worth doing.
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Albugo sp. - I have a collaborator who wants specimens of these who would be very happy to take this specimen for sequencing, will DM you
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Seemingly new to Ireland today - the powdery mildew Arthrocladiella mougeotii on Duke of Argyll's teaplant/Goji berry #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
It's particularly apparent when you look at how many maths graduates from top universities get sucked up by fintech/investment banking, so that their contribution to human knowledge and wellbeing rounds down to zero. I imagine many would rather do other things if they were given the chance!
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Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Botanical University Challenge @bucbotany.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
🌿🌾🌳🌍🍞🎼We are sad that Jonathan Mitchley ('DrM') passed away this week. BUC and especially the Student Botany Festival, would not exist without him. He made a big impact on the UK & Irish student botany community. Competition & festival will continue in 2027. www.reading.ac.uk/news/2026/Un...
Man looking to his right.
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Yes and yes! Lots of great music. Arthur and I go for walks to look at plants and fungi.
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
That's where I work!
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Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Donna Rainey @donnarainey4.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Sericomyia superbiens, a stunning hoverfly, it is a bumblebee mimic, looking convincingly like the Common carder. These were in my garden today. #hoverflies
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
A Green Tiger Beetle on Ilkley Moor (baht 'at)
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
bsky.app/profile/ruhr...
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Doassansia sagittariae on Arrowhead in central Leeds. This aquatic fungus forms balls of spores with a central cavity which presumably float in the water to reach new hosts. #FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Yes, I hope you're recording these! This one is quite common but as with all microfungi extremely underrecorded.
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Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Ash Whiffin @ashwhiffin.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
How do you digitise 325,000 insect specimens? Put them on conveyor belts! 🪰🐝🦋📸 Earlier this week, I went behind the scenes at the NMNH to see this mass digitization set-up in action! Thank you @tdikow.bsky.social & the Picturae team for hosting me! Find out more here: m.youtube.com/watch?v=-OSe...
Insect specimens with labels removed and placed on holders ready to be moved around on conveyers and taken for imaging. System designed and run by Picturae.Digitiser working at one of the specimen stations to return specimens to their original location in the drawer and prepare and send out a new specimen.
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Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Dr Astrid Biddle @astridbiddle.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Pleased to announce my new paper: Herbarium specimens spanning nearly two centuries revealed striking ecological & geographical differences between two ploidy-defined subspecies of Eleocharis palustris in Britain. Ploidy & genome size could help explain them. doi.org/10.33928/bib...
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Reposted by Jake Dalzell
AJCann @ajcann.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
What we're missing ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com/2026/08/what... #Wasps #Hymenoptera #VC55 #moths
ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com
What we're missing
Over the past few years I've tried (and pretty much failed) to convince colleagues that it is a scientific and ethical imperative to at le...
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Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Nigel Monaghan @nigelmonaghan-nh.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
National Museums Northern Ireland has two jobs for collections digitisation under the DiSSCo UK program, closing 9 September #museumjobs ce0568li.webitrent.com/ce0568li_web...
ce0568li.webitrent.com
Search results
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
A Hummingbird Hawkmoth!
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
This looks like a really cool project!
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I think BRC would need to liaise with iNaturalist to fix this, it isn't something individual recorders can change
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I see the issue - the recorder has obscured the location. This often isn't handled well by downstream databases in my experience. www.inaturalist.org/observations...
inaturalist.org
Odiellus spinosus
Odiellus spinosus in August 2026 by Hannah Esplin. Keyed out to O.spinosus. Very strong trident, distinct truncated saddle, short legs in comparison...
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Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) @bsbibotany.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Intrepid botanists headed up Slieve Muck on 18 August in the footsteps of Ireland's most famous naturalist, Robert Lloyd Praeger. They found Mountain Everlasting, a plant last recorded on the mountain by the great man himself in 1880! @bsbiireland.bsky.social Find out more: bsbi.org/about/news/p...
The distinctive leaves (green on top, white below) of the Mountain Everlasting plant, photographed on Slieve Muck, Co. Down, on 18 August.A group of smiling, intrepid botanists point to one of the rare plants they found on the mountain.
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Jake Dalzell @bitheolaidhe.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
With C. pratensis it is probably inconsequential but for something like Parnassia palustris which has one cytotype far more threatened than the other having separate names and assessments etc would be good
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