Current Research
My PhD is entitled "Ecosystem services of tropical filter feeders under environmental change". My research is focused on the conservation of tropical freshwater biodiversity in Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo). The region hosts incredible diversity, but is under many conflicting pressures from agriculture, logging, oil palm plantations, and the construction of large hydroelectric dams that are irreversible altering freshwater ecosystems.
Sessile filter-feeders, most notably bivalves, bryozoans and poriferans, are known to fulfil important ecosystem functions in temperate freshwater habitats, including water clearance, nutrient cycling, coupling the pelagic and benthic food webs, and providing food and habitat for other invertebrates, such as insect larva. Data on the functional role of sessile filter-feeders in tropical systems are, however, confined to clearance and biodeposition rates of a small number of bivalve species. Simultaneously, many tropical filter-feeding communities are threatened and undergoing compositional changes.
My research aims to understand how anthropogenically induced changes in sessile filter-feeding communities (e.g., mussels, sponges, and bryozoans) affect ecosystem functioning and services of tropical freshwaters. This knowledge is needed to estimate functional loss in the past, predict future loss and provide baseline knowledge for developing mitigation strategies.
My work combines field surveys, laboratory and mesocosm experiments, and the use of molecular techniques such as environmental DNA sampling and DNA metabarcoding.
My work is funded by the Envision DTP, and done in close collaboration with local partners (e.g., Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus) and with the University of Bangor and my case partner NatureMetrics.