Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
LightNews LightNews
banner
acastrocastellon.bsky.social
Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
@acastrocastellon.bsky.social
50 followers 83 following 16 posts
💙 Freshwater pollution, Water quality, Biogeochemistry, Freshwater ecology, Environmental engineering, 💧sci Phytoplankton, Diatoms💚.
Postdoctoral researcher QUANTUM freshwaters. University of Bristol.
Storying the Avon.

ORCID: 0000-0002-9655-3640
Posts Replies Media Videos
acastrocastellon.bsky.social
@AnaCastroCaste presented at #RAMIRAN 2025 Conference WP1 data from QUANTUM freshwaters on work conducted at Universities of bristol (School of Geographical Sciences); Bangor and Bath.
October 17, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
c0nc0rdance.bsky.social
In the forests of Southern Madagascar, three frog species were discovered in 2019 that represent the very lower limit of vertebrate size: < 9 mm long.

The genus was named "Mini", and the three species are:
Mini mum
Mini ature
Mini scule

(scientists are nerds, okay?)
A scientific figure from a paper, showing the frogs ventral and dorsal surfaces and one on a fingernail. Original text: "(a-c) ZSM 861/2014, holotype, in (a) anterolateral view on a thumbnail, (b) dorsolateral view on a leaf, (c) ventral view. (d, e) ZSM 862/2014, paratype, in (d) ventral view, and (e) lateral view on a thumbnail. (f, g) ZMB 83194, paratype, in (f) dorsolateral view, and (g) ventral view."
January 26, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
'This week, Wolfe and collaborators published new work directly linking rising temperatures to bird declines. Their research, published in Science Advances, tracked birds living in the forest understory at the BDFFP against detailed climate data.' 1/2
In the most untouched, pristine parts of the Amazon, birds are dying. Scientists may finally know why
Populations have been falling for decades, even in tracts of forest undamaged by humans. Experts have spent two decades trying to understand what is going on
www.theguardian.com
January 30, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
pagomba.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘The last plant left’: can Rapa Nui’s extinct tree be resurrected?
Seeds from the last toromiro, unique to remote Easter Island, were taken away in the 1960s. Now, after a crucial discovery gave hope for its survival, it is making a return
www.theguardian.com
February 19, 2025 at 1:22 PM
acastrocastellon.bsky.social
Thrilled to Lead: “Exhausted lives: The bitter juice of the cane never tasted”. Exploring human and environmental exhaustion in Caribbean Nevis during rum production 17th & 18th centuries.
Thanks to @hellobrigstow.bsky.social

Projects description: www.bristol.ac.uk/brigstow/res...
August 2, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
hellobrigstow.bsky.social
We are delighted to announce that we have awarded 5 brilliant projects connections funding around the theme of ‘Postcolonial natural history collections and museum and archive practices’.

Find out more: www.bristol.ac.uk/brigstow/new...
2025: Postcolonial natural history collections and museum and archive practices conne | Brigstow Institute | University of Bristol
www.bristol.ac.uk
August 1, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
elizabee.bsky.social
Hundreds of monarch butterflies died in a winter 2024 event. Investigation implicated multiple pyrethroid insecticides:
tinyurl.com/3h3y7wuf

From The Guardian:
"Combinations of pesticides can have a synergistic effect that makes them even more toxic.
The solution...less pesticides."
🧪🌍🦋
Monarch butterflies’ mass die-off in 2024 caused by pesticide exposure – study
New peer-reviewed research found an average of seven pesticides in each of 10 butterflies tested
www.theguardian.com
August 2, 2025 at 4:32 AM
acastrocastellon.bsky.social
This study evidences the role of allelochemicals and reinforces that Nature-based solutions, such as floating wetlands, could be beneficial for managing blooms.

Full article: Hormesis and antagonism in low-dose Phalaris allelochemicals during Microcystis control www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Hormesis and antagonism in low-dose Phalaris allelochemicals during Microcystis control
Aquatic ecosystems face significant challenges globally from cyanobacterial blooms. Phalaris arundinacea (reed canary grass) is used in artificial wetlands and found in natural wetlands. We investi...
www.tandfonline.com
July 12, 2025 at 12:50 PM
acastrocastellon.bsky.social
This week I helped setting up the mesocosm experiment for the @ercrefresh.bsky.social programme lead by @pennyjohnes.bsky.social with @jameslmcdonald.bsky.social and Charly Briddon. The landscape was a dream.
July 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
fburdon.bsky.social
Interesting food web interaction across ecosystem boundaries: stream decapods feeding on inputs of terrestrial fruit in neotropical forest catchments
Linking Neotropical riparian and stream food webs: nocturnal foraging behavior and facilitation among decapods in response to added palm fruit - Hydrobiologia
Freshwater macroinvertebrates can connect tropical forests and stream food webs by consuming both terrestrially and aquatically produced foods, but direct observations of nocturnal feeding behavior in...
link.springer.com
December 16, 2024 at 11:25 AM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
fburdon.bsky.social
Aquatic-terrestrial food webs are inextricably linked through reciprocal exchanges of subsidies. New synthesis explores their benefits as limiting resources that increase consumer fitness and ecosystem production, but also their dark side by vectoring contaminants, often in human-impacted watersheds
Integrating the Bright and Dark Sides of Aquatic Resource Subsidies—A Synthesis
You have to enable JavaScript in your browser's settings in order to use the eReader.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
April 12, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
pennyjohnes.bsky.social
Our @ukri.org QUANTUM national sampling programme is now well underway. Thanks to @acastrocastellon.bsky.social for help with the SW England sites, Sydney Enns and @victoriahussey.bsky.social for prepping the kit, and my husband who helped with the Welsh sites - great cow poo sampling skills! 🧪🐄🐑🐂
Beef cattle, and a very aggressive bull guarding his herd. Dairy cattle in the Cleddau catchment Start of Day 3, in the headquarters of the Tywi catchment before heading over to the Usk. Days 1 and 2 sampled the Cleddau (W and E), Nyfer, Taf, Teifi and Aeron catchments! A sprightly cow during our sampling trip to the W Cleddau. Shout out to the West Wales Nutrient Management Partnership who put us in touch with the farmers, and the farmer who gave us permission to visit their farms.
June 23, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
pennyjohnes.bsky.social
When livestock have direct access to watercourses, the risk of ecotoxin, pathogen, organic matter and nutrient pollution increases to 100%. Our
@ukri.org QUANTUM programme sampling found some culprits today..... @acastrocastellon.bsky.social @victoriahussey.bsky.social 🧪🐄🐂
An idyllic scene, but hidden within is ecosystem damage as cattle urine and dung are directly voided into the stream or onto the stream margins. Some of the culprits Who did that? A contaminated site. Water flows from her to the river and out to coastal bathing waters. Contaminants include ecotoxins, pathogens, organic matter and nutrients.
June 25, 2025 at 12:10 AM
acastrocastellon.bsky.social
A moment of rest at the purest picnic style before last sampling in this field for the QUANTUM freshwater project. @pennyjohnes.bsky.social
May 29, 2025 at 6:39 AM
acastrocastellon.bsky.social
An image says it all! Coring the field: the tools, the people, the technique.
May 27, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
pennyjohnes.bsky.social
We had warm sunny weather when we wanted rain for our experiments and now, when we want dry weather to for soil coring and site decommissioning, we had very heavy rain all day. Even so, 62 coring sites surveyed in and cored for our NERC QUANTUM ecotoxin, pathogen, organic and nutrient analyses! 🧪
Prof Andy Binley, Lancaster University with Tony Healey, technical manager at the University of Bristol, surveying in the soil coring sites with the help of Prof Penny Johnes So course extracted ready for ecotoxin pathogen organic geochemistry and nutrient analysis at the universities of Bath, Bangor and Bristol respectively. 62 corling sites across our control strips and our two slurry amended treatment strips. Dr Ana Castro-Castellon with Prof Penny Johnes, midway through coring and both of us thoroughly soaking wet but still cheerful! Dr. Victoria Hussey, Sydney Enns and Dr James McDonald at the start of coring. Six sites into the 62 at 10 am and everyone was already soaked.
May 27, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
cabot-institute.bsky.social
New research reveals mountain glaciers across the globe will not recover for centuries – even if human intervention cools the planet back to the 1.5°C limit, having exceeded it. bristol.ac.uk/cabot/news/2...
Glaciers will take centuries to recover even if global warming is reversed, scientists warn
New research reveals mountain glaciers across the globe will not recover for centuries – even if human intervention cools the planet back to the 1.5°C limit, having exceeded it.
bristol.ac.uk
May 21, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
ailishcraig.bsky.social
One for the climate scientist! 🌐

📃 In our latest paper we provide an overview of the climate projections used in the National Communications of the 16 countries in the SADC region.

Find the full table in the paper: lnkd.in/e-kT9ngA
Table showing the climate projections that feature in the National Communications of each SADC countries. Columns include type of projections, timeframe, scenarios, number of models used, model names and year of document.
May 21, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
organiccarbon.bsky.social
The CERES and BACC peatland research team (@bristoluni.bsky.social and @exeter.ac.uk) sampled the stunning Cors Caron in western Wales last week. Fantastic peat coring to the lake clays 8.5 m below us. Records of past climate change and home to fascinating bacteria and archaea!
May 19, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
organiccarbon.bsky.social
Cors Caron is one of the UK's best preserved raised peat bogs (although it also has suffered extensive use and is only a remnant of its past glory). Its surface is a beautiful mosaic of plant life that both responds to and engineers the ecosystem.
A brown and golden field of reeds and cotton grass, the latter creating soft puffs of white that adorn the peatland landscape. In the backgound, green hills rise above the bog, now fields but probably once covered by blanket bogs. View of peat vegetation from above. On the peat surface are patches of ruddy red and green Sphagnum and crusts of lichen (reindeer lichen?). Popping through them are tufts of cotton grass.
May 19, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
robcrewshole.bsky.social
Late Light is a wonderful book, should be an interesting talk.
cabot-institute.bsky.social Cabot Institute for the Environment @cabot-institute.bsky.social · May 22
Join Michael Malay @bristoluni.bsky.social online as he talks about his @wainwrightprize.bsky.social winning book, Late Light. More info and registration in link:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-evening...
May 22, 2025 at 1:44 PM
acastrocastellon.bsky.social
Research field work has its perks, one gets to be supervised by livestock! Here marking the plots and core sampling points with @pennyjohnes.bsky.social lead of @QUANTUM freshwater and REFRESH projects. James McDonald assisting today.
May 24, 2025 at 7:36 AM
acastrocastellon.bsky.social
There is so much work invested on this experiment that seeing it running is a joy!
May 16, 2025 at 7:35 PM
acastrocastellon.bsky.social
Than you Penny, great to be part of your great team!
pennyjohnes.bsky.social Penny Johnes @pennyjohnes.bsky.social · May 14
Doing great science requires a great team. Introducing Dr Ana Castro-Castellon, PDRA on the NERC QUANTUM project, freshwater ecology and chemistry specialist with field electronics skills. Pictured after getting all 45 motors working on our stream isotope experiment. Great to work with you, Ana! 🧪🪛🛠️
Prof Penny Johnes and Dr Ana Castro-Castellon of the NEEC QUANTUM project. Great to have these skills in the team Ana!
May 16, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Reposted by Ana Castro-Castellon, DPhil (Oxon)
pennyjohnes.bsky.social
Great day setting up a pilot stream warming experiment for our upcoming NERC QUANTUM isotope experiment with our newest recruit, Dr James McDonald who has just joined our NERC funded ERC Advanced Grant REFRESH team. Knowledge transfer at its best!🧪
Professor Penny Johnes in the experimental stream site for the QUANTUM programme. Dr Ana Castro-Castellon, QUANTUM PDRA with Dr James McDonald, REFRESH Specialist Research Technician, installing mesocosms in our freshly cleaned frames in the stream. The final pilot study. With jars raised out of the stream at various Heights to test the appropriate stream depth at which we can achieve a 2.3 degree C warming effect in the mesocosms. Results will inform our final installation for our second and final isotope dosing experiment at the site. Results from the November experiment have been very promising and we look forward to comparing them with the May experiment, and comparing the ambient mesocosm results with those from the warmed jars. Installing the temperature and light sensors, together with the paddle to stir the jars to ambient stream flow velocities
May 2, 2025 at 5:03 PM