Kenny WJ Chua
PhD National University of Singapore
AlumNUS
PhD NUS
BSc (Hons) NUS
Areas of interest
Functional ecology, Aquatic invasions, Conservation biology
Background
My early undergraduate research focused on the ecology of primary freshwater crabs in forest streams of Singapore, with the goal of informing the conservation of these diverse yet understudied and threatened crustaceans. My Honours project investigated fish communities in Singapore to understand factors influencing the vulnerability of tropical forest streams to potential invaders. These experiences nurtured in me a wide interest in the ecology of tropical forest streams, especially aspects that are pertinent to their conservation in Southeast Asia.
Current projects
My current work aims to understand how fish diversity influences ecosystem functions in tropical freshwater streams, and the stability of these functions against anthropogenic stressors. My research involves the characterisation of zoogeographic patterns in functional diversity and vulnerability; probabilistic simulations of diversity loss and its functional impacts; as well as field investigations of trophic functions using stable isotopes.
Selected publications
- Chua K. W. J., Lim F. K. S., Ahmad A., Tan H. H., D. C. J. Yeo†., 2020. Morphological traits mediate fish occurrences in oil palm-impacted tropical streams. Freshwater Biology. [Abstract]
- Chua K. W. J., Liew J. H., Shin K. H. & D. C. J Yeo†, 2020. Effects of ethanol preservation and formalin fixation on amino acid stable isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N) and its ecological applications. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods . [Abstract]
- Liew J. H., Chua K. W. J., Arsenault E. R., Thorp J. H., Suvarnaraksha A., Amirrudin A., D. C. J. Yeo, 2019 Quantifying terrestrial carbon in freshwater food webs using amino acid isotope analysis: Case study with an endemic cavefish. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10: 1594–1605.
- Chua K. W. J., H. H. Tan & D. C. J Yeo, 2019. Loss of endemic fish species drives impacts on functional richness, redundancy and vulnerability in freshwater ecoregions of Sundaland. Biological Conservation, 234: 72–81.
- Tan, H. H., C. L. Y. Tan & K. W. J. Chua, 2015. Asian arowana from Banir Stream with note on its gut contents. Singapore Biodiversity Records, 2015: 173–174.
- Chua, K. W. J., D. J. J. Ng, Y. Zeng & D. C. J. Yeo, 2015. Habitat characteristics of tropical rainforest freshwater crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura: Potamidae, Gecarcinucidae) in Singapore. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 35(4): 533–539.
- Chua, K. W. J., D. J. J. Ng & D. C. J. Yeo, 2014. In situ observations of mating behaviour of the Singapore freshwater crab Johora singaporensis (Crustacea: Brachyura: Potamidae). Nature in Singapore, 7: 117–120.