Mark Castillo Bucay

grad student | phytogeography

🇵🇭🇹🇼

[Hoso🐌 @MasakiHoso]

国際学会 Island Biology 2026 において、本研究室M2の曲さんが Poster Presentation Award および Young Researchers Sherwin Carlquist Award を受賞しました🎉八丈島の謎めく植物病昆虫群集で一流研究者らの心を掴んだ模様。 #IB2026

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

Would like to plug our recent publications about centuries of Philippine Begonia progress. This can give you an idea of the connection of historical events to our islands' biodiv knowledge.

We had a field day writing this! Especially @etnobiyologo!

https://t.co/H3jt5QBLI3

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

Big thanks to Island Biology 2026 #IB2026 for the Young Researchers Sherwin Carlquist award for Best Oral Presentation for my Begonia study.

We are so grateful to share the big stories from our corner of the world. Cheers, here's our big Begonia tanauanensis for you!

Also ⬇️⬇️

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

First time here in the northernmost inhabited island of the Philippines. Sharing some photos of these majestic landscapes of Itbayat island, Batanes province, around 140km from Orchid island of Taiwan. Here I stand closer to my apartment in Taipei than our house in Manila 😆😭

[Kier Mitchel E. Pitogo @kieralreefs]

Our Matters Arising article is now published at @npjbiodiversity. In this critique, we highlighted some deficiencies in a 2024 study on the relationship between conflict & biodiversity knowledge in Mindanao, Philippines. https://t.co/CoSB2efyug

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

This is just an overview of the works that we're doing in understanding these plants' radiation in the country as we are geared to add MORE samples from MORE islands and localities.

More species dropping soon, more stories to tell, and tons of work to do. 😅

Thank you team!

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

We described two new species of Begonia from Eastern Mindanao, Philippines. Surprisingly, based on the initial analysis of their ITS sequences, they belong to the same clade with other species found in a much northern localities in Luzon island.

[Phytotaxa updates @Phytotaxa]

Morphological and molecular analyses revealed two #newspecies of #Begonia sect. #Baryandra in the Eastern Mindanao Biodiversity Corridor, #Philippines
#taxonomy
https://t.co/nWpWWjRl6D

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

@begoniARCIIae Thank you so much sir!

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

11 new Vietnamese Begonias in 10 days.

[Phytotaxa updates @Phytotaxa]

Five new species of #Begonia (#Begoniaceae) from #Vietnam
https://t.co/Fw8ivBZeDO

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

@begoniARCIIae Congrats!! 🥰

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

More snaps from this small island on the temperate-tropics ecotone. Majestic landscapes, intriguing biogeography! On to the next islands. See you soon, Islang Pantropiko 🥰

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

Snaps from Green Island (綠島), Taiwan, the northernmost island of the Luzon Volcanic Arc. From the resident island-hopper Begonia fenicis, to very wide carpets of natural bonsai Pemphis acidula, the flora of this small island (15 sqkm) definitely has a larger story to tell.

[Liam Revell @phytools_liam]

I'd like to sustain that fitmultiBM -- for fitting a discrete character dependent continuous trait evolution model (including with hidden-rates) via the approximation of Boucher & Démery (2016) -- is the most important new function in #phytools from 2024: https://t.co/PxPdkf9Exc.

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

@TrevorCPadgett 10 ug of libraries, 90 ug of sheer anxiety.

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

Obligatory picture of pooled samples before sequencing. Will miss working with my wetlab. Or not.

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

Very good read on the parasitic plants of Taiwan!

[Trevor Padgett @TrevorCPadgett]

Parasitic plants are a unique (parasitic!!) and diverse (>4,500 species!!) group of plants that are ecologically important...but understudied.

Our three year study found that a rare parasitic plant in #Taiwan is an annual, not perennial.
#Balanophora

https://t.co/Y6DFlbuo8z

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

More findings from our survey of Philippine Begonia sect. Baryandra as supported by @iaptglobal through the Biodiversity Challenge 2022.

[Phytotaxa updates @Phytotaxa]

Morpho-anatomical description of new Begonia species (sect. #Baryandra, Begoniaceae) from Butuan City, Mindanao Island, #Philippines
https://t.co/O0ckNSqFJM
#Taxonomy

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

@begoniARCIIae Uiii thank you very much sir!!!

[Phytotaxa updates @Phytotaxa]

Morpho-anatomical description of new Begonia species (sect. #Baryandra, Begoniaceae) from Butuan City, Mindanao Island, #Philippines
https://t.co/O0ckNSqFJM
#Taxonomy

[Mark Castillo Bucay @macbux]

Be our neighbors 🥰😁

[Tzu-Hao Harry Lin @HarryLin4]

🌊Marine Ecoacoustics and Informatics Lab at Academia Sinica is harnessing AI and ecoacoustics to uncover the secrets of ocean biodiversity.

🌟 We're Hiring:
Research Assistant (Bachelor’s/Master’s level)
Postdoctoral Researcher

➡️Details:
https://t.co/19O4yeMzjr