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Juan A. Balbuena

@jabalbuena.bsky.social
272 followers 262 following 133 posts

Zoologist, ICBiBE, Univ. Valencia. Marine parasites, ecology, phylogeny & coevolution. Polyglot swimmer, R geek, dangerous dissenter.

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Reposted by Juan A. Balbuena
Tadashi Fukami @fukamit.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Systems Ecology, a new journal launched today, "run by researchers, for researchers, and is free to read and free to publish, with no article processing charges" systems-ecology.org/index.php/se...
systems-ecology.org
Systems Ecology
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Carlos M Herrera @cmhmaliani.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
How should we measure pollinator diversity? How many pollinators does a whole plant community have? How large is "dark" pollinator diversity in an hyperdiverse community? I address these and related questions in this new paper, based on 29 yr of data from 288 plant species doi.org/10.26786/192...
doi.org
Commonness and rarity of pollinators: species abundance and diversity in a hyperdiverse Mediterranean assemblage | Journal of Pollination Ecology
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JCTorres 🟥🟨🟪🇱🇧🇵🇸 @juancarlostorres.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Los saharauis nacieron siendo españoles. Pero, tras la retirada del Sáhara Occidental, muchas familias quedaron atrapadas en un vacío jurídico. La Ley de Nacionalidad Saharaui permitiría reconocer ese vínculo Firma para exigir que se desbloquee cuanto antes. compartir.masmadrid.org/s/UsG8udaX
compartir.masmadrid.org
FIRMA AQUÍ
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Reposted by Juan A. Balbuena
Andrés Baselga @andresbaselga.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
New paper by Carola Gómez-Rodríguez and me on ecological uniqueness. We show that: 1. Asymmetric dissimilarity is a must for quantifying the uniqueness of biological communities. 2. Average dissimilarity is an absolute measure of uniqueness, while LCBD is a relative indicator doi.org/10.1111/geb....
doi.org
Ecological Uniqueness: New Measures to Reconcile Method With Concept
Aim Ecological uniqueness quantifies how different a community is relative to all other communities within the study. This broad-sense definition of uniqueness makes it dependent on the choice of th.....
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Edu M. García Roger @edugarciaroger.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Our latest study on zooplankton dispersal. Prevailing winds, local biotic and abiotic conditions in the source pool. Role of propagule size: sail vs. gravitational effect. Find it here👇🏻 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Quantifying local wind-mediated dispersal of zooplankton in a Mediterranean pond - Hydrobiologia
Dispersal shapes species distributions, population dynamics, and community structure. While zooplankton is assumed to exhibit high dispersal capacity, quantitative data remain scarce, particularly for...
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Reposted by Juan A. Balbuena
The Onion @theonion.com · 30/08/2026
Cockroaches Feeling Very Optimistic About Future Of Planet theonion.com/cockroaches-feeling-ve…
Cockroaches Feeling Very Optimistic About Future Of Planet
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Vos imagineu al rei Felip dient coses com "Els noruecs també han immigrats des de l'Afganistan, el Pakistan i Polònia, Suècia, Somàlia i Síria. No sempre és fàcil dir d'on venim. A quina nacionalitat pertanyem. La llar és on és el cor." o "Els noruecs creuen en Déu, Al·là, en tot i en res."?
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I see monarchies as an anachronism that makes little sense nowadays. However, I wish to pay my respects following the passing of King Harald of Norway. An extract from a speech delivered 9 yrs ago follows [1/2] 👇
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Dating advice for male treefrogs: watch out for researchers playing rival calls 👇 Female Treefrogs Get Overwhelmed by Too Many Noisy Male Suitors - nautil.us/female-treef...
nautil.us
Female Treefrogs Get Overwhelmed by Too Many Noisy Male Suitors
Female Treefrogs Get Overwhelmed by Too Many Noisy Male Suitors: Take it easy on the croaking, boys
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I'm on holidays in (choose the right answer) A) Bora bora. B) Ulan Bator. C) Valdres Norway. D) Lloc Nou de Sant Jeroni
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Juli Peretó @julipereto.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Una recomanació per als que no puguen anar a veure'l en directe. @uv.es @ucciuv.bsky.social www.uv.es/uvweb/uv-not...
uv.es
La Universitat de València retransmetrà en directe l’eclipsi del 12 d’agost
La Universitat de València (UV) retransmetrà en directe per la seua pàgina web i per Youtube l’eclipsi del 12 d’agost a través d'aquest enllaç, en un acte coorganizat per Fernando Ballesteros i...
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F. Mesquita-Joanes @mesquitajoanes.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
www.eldebate.com/espana/comun...
eldebate.com
Los humedales de Valencia protagonizan un estudio que revela la memoria de diminutos crustáceos
La Albufera
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Reposted by Juan A. Balbuena
Vicent Olmos @vicentolmos.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
A 86 anys, mor el físic teòric i exrector de la UV, Ramon Lapiedra i Civera. Una gran pèrdua i un referent del valencianisme. El meu condol a la família i als amics. Que la terra et siga lleu...!
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Pretty obvious FAQ about open access: How much does it cost to publish in your journal? Why is that difficult to find out? Are you ashamed or something? I do not mean to single out a specific publisher. The pattern is universal #OpenAccess
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Reposted by Juan A. Balbuena
Loukas Theodosiou @bioinformatician.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
After four years, several updates and a handful of CRAN releases, 𝗹𝘁𝗰 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲 𝗥-𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗴𝗲, reached a version I feel genuinely good about sharing with the community. github.com/loukesio/ltc...
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 12/07/2026
My coauthor Jay Falk's postdoctoral fellowship was terminated by the Trump administration for documenting the hummingbird example in this paper.
FIGURE 2
Open in figure viewer
PowerPoint
Operational biological sex definitions applied to hummingbirds (Bleiweiss 1992; Bleiweiss 1999; Bleiweiss 2001; Diamant et al. 2021; Falk et al. 2022; Falk et al. 2021) where sex is operationally defined by binary plumage phenotypes in the field. Each row depicts a wild individual hummingbird with morphological traits (beak length, plumage coloration), behavioural traits (territoriality) and their unobserved gamete type. This example illustrates how the same individual can be operationally defined as one sex in the field (based on external phenotypes) but classified as a different sex based on their gametes (which cannot be easily observed in the field), highlighting how definitional choices shape scientific reporting of sex.
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IMPACT parasite biodiversity @impact-parasites.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Meet Acanthocephalus lucii, a "thorny-headed worm" parasite of European freshwater fish. Its spiny proboscis hooks into the host's intestine, and without a digestive tract it absorbs nutrients straight through its skin! 🪱🐟 Images: Mathias Colin, IMPACT PhD student
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Ko-walla.bsky.social @ko-walla.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06.... An environmental disaster is the farmed salmon industry.
abc.net.au
Five tonnes of antibiotics used to combat disease in salmon
More than five tonnes of antibiotics were used to treat a disease that killed 9,000 tonnes of fish last summer, Salmon Tasmania says.
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Algún sap on es pot trobar Palaemon elegans prop de València?
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Tracy Heath @trayc7.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
I’m recruiting a PhD student to join our lab in the fall of 2027. If you’re excited about phylogenetics, comp bio, paleobiology, stats theory, macroevolution, etc. please get in touch! Folks at #Evol2026, you can talk to @brpetrucci.bsky.social & @sigournie.bsky.social to learn more about our lab
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Academic freedom is declining around the world www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...
scientificamerican.com
See how academic freedom is changing around the world
Some countries have seen a stark decline in academic freedom over the past decade
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Reposted by Juan A. Balbuena
IMPACT parasite biodiversity @impact-parasites.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
A master manipulator, Schistocephalus solidus uses three hosts - copepods, fish, and birds - to complete its life cycle. By altering the behaviour of infected copepods and fish, it makes them easier prey, boosting its chances of reaching the next host. 🪱🐟🐦 Images: Roman Kuchta
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
The Vatican has the world’s highest Pope density: 2.27 Popes/km². May not sound like much, but scaled to the size of Russia, we’d end up with c. 38 M Popes. At this point, running the Catholic Church might become quite complex. (Yes!, you guessed it. Today I'm "working" from home).
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Reposted by Juan A. Balbuena
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 22/05/2026
“Units of the NIH are privately directing grantees to request permission in advance for any co-authorship with a scholar affiliated with a foreign institution, even if all the work was done in the United States.” Grantees also told to remove papers with foreign authors from progress reports.
science.org
U.S. researchers face new restrictions on publishing with foreign collaborators
NIH, NASA grantees are confused and concerned amid agencies’ piecemeal communication
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
CALL FOR PERMANENT POSITIONS OF DISTINGUISHED RESEARCHER IN THE VALENCIAN COMMUNITY www.valer-f.es/call/valer-2...
valer-f.es
ValER 2026 CALL FOR PERMANENT POSITIONS OF DISTINGUISHED RESEARCHER IN THE VALENCIAN COMMUNITY | ValER
ValER offers EIGHT permanent positions for researchers willing to develop a long-term scientific career in the Valencian Community.
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Reposted by Juan A. Balbuena
IMPACT parasite biodiversity @impact-parasites.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Conservation actions for parasites!? Find out how the decline of the European medicinal leech is being reversed ⬇️
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Do octopus brains work like humans’ — or is there another way to be smart? www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Do octopus brains work like humans’ — or is there another way to be smart?
Just like vertebrates, cephalopods — such as octopuses and squid — have elaborate brains. Neuroscientists are flocking to them for insights into how intelligence evolved.
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Sign this petition to defend Europe’s environmental laws #HandsOffNature Don’t let polluters and opportunistic politicians speak for you. Give nature a voice. #SEO/BirdLife seo.org/mi-salud-y-l...
seo.org
Mi salud y la naturaleza NO están en venta - SEO/BirdLife
No permitas que se derriben en la UE las normas de protección de la naturaleza. Haz que tu voz esté presente participando con nosotros.
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Firma esta petición para defender las leyes ambientales de Europa #HandsOffNature No dejes que quienes contaminan y los políticos oportunistas hablen por ti. Dale voz a la naturaleza. #SEO/BirdLife seo.org/mi-salud-y-l...
seo.org
Mi salud y la naturaleza NO están en venta - SEO/BirdLife
No permitas que se derriben en la UE las normas de protección de la naturaleza. Haz que tu voz esté presente participando con nosotros.
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Reposted by Juan A. Balbuena
IMPACT parasite biodiversity @impact-parasites.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Diplozoon paradoxum Members of the genus Diplozoon are a striking group of monogenean parasites, typically found on the gills of freshwater and marine fish. They begin as separate, free-living juveniles, who later physically interlock with a partner to form a lifelong union ❤️
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 09/04/2026
Our PhD student Kennedy Orwa, who studies applications of AI to health care, was hastily deported today to Kenya along with his 13-year-old son without opportunity to speak to legal counsel. King 5 reports that he held a valid visa that was rescinded without explanation.
king5.com
UW graduate student deported through SEA as protesters demand answers
A union representing University of Washington graduate student workers says Kennedy Orwa’s student visa was rescinded without explanation.
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
ChatBot: Do you think AI-generated encyclopedias can eventually match the reliability of human-curated ones, or is the "human in the loop" essential for truth? Me: I'm just a humble human reluctant to give my opinion to an AI-driven chatbot. ChatBot: Fair point! I’ll tip my digital hat to that.
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
New paper in our Lab!
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IMPACT parasite biodiversity @impact-parasites.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Natural history museums are important biodiversity repositories for future generations. IMPACT will contribute specimens to European museum collections.
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IMPACT parasite biodiversity @impact-parasites.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
The fish louse Argulus coregoni, possibly one of the cutest freshwater parasites there is! This parasitic crustacean lives on freshwater fish where they feed on skin and mucus. Most commonly seen by trout anglers in late summer and autumn. Image: Arnstein Staverløkk Instagram @naturogbilde
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IMPACT parasite biodiversity @impact-parasites.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Parasites of freshwater fish come in all shapes and sizes. IMPACT invites you to get to know some of the fascinating parasite species we know and love 🥰
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Universitat de València-UV @uv.es · 06/03/2026
El nou projecte MAReA de la #UV i la UIB estudiarà com es dispersen els patògens marins en entorns aqüícoles. 🧪 També combinarà ADN ambiental, anàlisi morfològica i dades oceanogràfiques per identificar reservoris i desenvolupar eines d’alerta primerenca. 
links.uv.es
Impulsen un projecte pioner per a anticipar riscos sanitaris en l’aqüicultura mediterrània
Investigadores de la Universitat de València (UV), entitat coordinadora del projecte, i de la Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) han iniciat el projecte de recerca MAReA , una iniciativa científica que té com a objectiu comprendre com es...
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IMPACT parasite biodiversity @impact-parasites.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Who will join us? #BioMonWeek - the new conference on European Biodiversity monitoring. The IMPACT team looks forward to meeting you in Montpellier! Submit your abstracts now as spots are filling quickly! 2026.biomonweek.eu/page/home/
2026.biomonweek.eu
Home — BioMonWeek 2026
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Thrilled with this collaboration with 🇧🇷 colleagues!!
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Elizabeth Beston @elizabethbeston.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
The delightful contract and stretch of a Trematode flatworm, no doubt on the hunt for a host to enact its parasitic ways. #marineplankton 🦑
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
www.nrk.no/ytring/hvor-...
nrk.no
Hvor mye er en nobelpris verdt?
I en verden der alt kan kjøpes og selges, er det kanskje ikke så rart at også Nobelprisen går med i dragsuget.
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Three tips for scientific writing: a guide for graduate students www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Three tips for scientific writing: a guide for graduate students
Do you struggle with the blank page? These strategies could help.
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David Thieltges @davidwthieltges.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
What temperatures do intertidal organisms experience on oyster beds in the temperate Wadden Sea? We used biomimetic temperature loggers deployed on two oyster beds for a year to find out. Check our new paper in Marine Environmental Research: doi.org/10.1016/j.ma...
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IMPACT parasite biodiversity @impact-parasites.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
What is needed to improve our understanding of long-term trends in parasite infection and diversity? Integrating large-scale parasite monitoring programs with existing ecological monitoring projects, plus developing new scalable biomonitoring tools. Read more 👉 doi.org/10.1002/brv.... @biodiversa.eu
doi.org
Long‐term trends in parasite diversity and infection levels: approaches and patterns
Parasites exist in every ecosystem, affecting nearly all organisms and playing a complex role in human societies. On the one hand, they contribute substantially to biodiversity and support ecosystem ....
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Juan A. Balbuena @jabalbuena.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Our latest paper in Biol Rev. Parasites are vital parts of ecosystems. Because we lack long-term data, we still don't know how human-driven environmental change is affecting their diversity. Better, sustained monitoring is needed. doi.org/10.1002/brv.... @impact-parasites.bsky.social 🧪
doi.org
Long‐term trends in parasite diversity and infection levels: approaches and patterns
Parasites exist in every ecosystem, affecting nearly all organisms and playing a complex role in human societies. On the one hand, they contribute substantially to biodiversity and support ecosystem ...
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IMPACT parasite biodiversity @impact-parasites.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Laboratorio de Parasitología, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Bariloche 🇦🇷 hosted @rachelpatersonnz.bsky.social @ninanatureresearch.bsky.social to share insights into how @biodiversa.eu #IMPACT monitors freshwater fish parasite biodiversity.
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IMPACT parasite biodiversity @impact-parasites.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
#IMPACT researcher Cyril Hammoud reveals long-term changes in wildlife parasites at the Belgian Society of Parasitology & Protistology Annual meeting. @biodiversa.eu
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Jonathan Eisen @phylogenomics.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Excellent news:
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