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Research Staff

  2. Research
  3. Research Staff
  4. Dr CHONG Kwek Yan

Dr CHONG Kwek Yan

Image of Researcher, Dr Daniel THOMAS.

 

Email Address: chong_kwek_yan@nparks.gov.sg

 

Research Interests

My research interests are in vegetation ecology, urban ecology, and invasion ecology. In particular, I have worked on tropical freshwater swamp forest, secondary succession, ‘novel ecosystems’, plant invasion ecology, interactions between wildlife and urban greenery, and Singapore floristics and biodiversity conservation. I am also an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, a research affiliate of the Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions as well as the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, and an Associate Editor of Biodiversity & Conservation and the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.

 

Current Research

I coordinate the Tropical Forest Ecology Research programme at the National Parks Board. The programme is anchored by a Long-Term Forest Ecological Monitoring project that maintains a network of permanent research plots in Singapore’s nature reserves and parks. We support collaborations, internships, and undergraduate and postgraduate research projects under this research programme.

  

Selected Publications

Forest Ecology

Lam, W.N., P.J. Chan, Y.Y. Ting, H.J. Sim, J.J. Lian, R. Chong, Nur Estya Rahman, L.W.A. Tan, Q.Y. Ho, Z. Chiam, Srishti Arora, Sorain J. Ramchunder, K.S.-H. Peh, Y. Cai, K.Y. Chong. (2022) Habitat specialization mediates the influence of leaf traits on canopy productivity. Ecosystems 25: 1006–1019.
Chong, K.Y., S.M.X. Hung, C.Y. Koh, R.C.J. Lim, J.W. Loh, L Neo, W.W. Seah, S.Y. Tan, H.T.W. Tan. (2021) Waterlogging and soil but not seedling competition structure tree communities in a catchment containing a tropical freshwater swamp forest. Journal of Vegetation Science 32: e13072.
Lam, W.N., J.J. Lian, P.J. Chan, Y.Y. Ting, R. Chong, Nur Estya Rahman, L.W.A. Tan, Q.Y. Ho, Sorain J. Ramchunder, K.S.-H. Peh, Y. Cai, K.Y. Chong. (2021) Leaf litter decomposition in tropical freshwater swamp forests is slower in swamp than non-swamp conditions. Biotropica 53: 920–929.
Yee, A.T.K., H.R. Lai, K.Y. Chong, L. Neo, C.Y. Koh, S.Y. Tan, W.W. Seah, J.W. Loh, R.C.J. Lim, M. van Breugel, H.T.W. Tan. (2019) Short-term responses in a secondary tropical forest after a severe windstorm event. Journal of Vegetation Science 30: 720–731.
Chong, K.Y., R. Chong, L.W.A. Tan, A.T.K. Yee, M.A.H. Chua, K.M. Wong, H.T.W. Tan. (2016) Fruit fall, pre- and post-disersal predation, and seedling survival of two Shorea and two Diperocarpus spp. in severely fragmented forests in Singapore. Plant Ecology & Diversity 9: 483–490.


Singapore vegetation, floristics and plant (re-)discovery
Kristensen, N., W.W. Seah, K.Y. Chong, Y.S. Yeoh, T. Fung, L. Berman, H.Z. Tan, R. Chisholm. (2020) Extinction rate of discovered and undiscovered plants in Singapore. Conservation Biology 34: 1229–1240.
Yee, A.T.K., K.Y. Chong, W.W. Seah, H.K. Lua., S. Yang. (2019) Vegetation of Singapore. In: Middleton et al. (eds.) Flora of Singapore, Vol. 1., Singapore. Pp. 47–70.
Chong, K.Y., R.C.J. Lim, J.W. Loh, L. Neo, W.W. Seah, S.Y. Tan, H.T.W. Tan (2018) Rediscoveries, new records and the floristic value of the Nee Soon Swamp Forest. Gardens’ Bulletin Singapore 70 (Supplement 1): 49–69.


Plant invasion ecology and ‘novel ecosystems’
Chong, K.Y., R.T. Corlett, M. Nuñez, K. Andersen, F. Courchamp, S.C. Chua, W. Dawson, S. Fei, S. Kuebbing, B.P.H. Lee, A Liebhold, S.K.Y. Lum, M. Luskin, K.M. Ngo, M. Padmanaba, L. Souza, D. Wardle. (2021) Are biological invasions different in the tropics? Annual Reviews in Ecology, Evolution & Systematics 52: 291–314.
Lai, H.R., G.S.Y. Tan, L. Neo, C.Y. Kee, A.T.K. Yee, H.T.W. Tan, K.Y. Chong (2021) Decoupled responses of native and exotic tree diversities to distance from old-growth forest and soil phosphorous in post-cultivation secondary forests. Applied Vegetation Science 24: e12548.
Neo, L., A.T.K. Yee, K.Y. Chong, C.Y. Kee, H.T.W. Tan. (2017) Vascular plant species richness and composition along environmental gradients and landscape contexts in two types of post-cultivation tropical secondary forests. Applied Vegetation Science 20: 692–701.
Chong, K.Y., M.B. Raphael, L.R. Carrasco, A.T.K. Yee, X. Giam, V.B. Yap, H.T.W. Tan. (2017) Reconstructing the invasion history of a spreading, non-native, tropical tree through a snapshot of current distribution, sizes, and growth rates. Plant Ecology 218: 673–685.

Field guides to Singapore forest trees
Chan, P.J., Lam, W.N., Ting, Y.Y., Phang, A., Chong, R., Rahman, N.E.& Chong, K.Y. (2022) Towards a field guide to the trees of the Nee Soon Catchment (VIII): Sapotaceae. Nature in Singapore Supplement 1: e2022074. 
Lam, W.N., J.W. Loh, R. Chong, Y.Y. Ting, P.J. Chan, K.Y. Chong. (2022) Towards a field guide to the trees of the Nee Soon Catchment (VII): Phyllanthaceae. Nature in Singapore Supplement 1: e2022073.
Hung, S.M.X., W.W. Seah, K.Y. Chong. (2022) Towards a field guide to the trees of the Nee Soon Catchment (VI): Calophyllum (Calophyllaceae). Nature in Singapore Supplement 1: e2022072.
Seah, W.W., K.Y. Chong, Neo L., S.Y. Tan, C.Y. Koh, R.C.J. Lim, J.W. Loh, W.Q. Ng, A.T.K. Yee, H.T.W. Tan. (2019) Towards a field guide to the trees of the Nee Soon Catchment (V): Burseraceae. Nature in Singapore 12: 15–36.
Tan, S.Y., K.Y. Chong, Neo L., C.Y. Koh, R.C.J. Lim, J.W. Loh, W.Q. Ng, W.W. Seah, A.T.K. Yee, H.T.W. Tan. (2016) Towards a field guide to the trees of the Nee Soon Catchment (IV): Xanthophyllum (Polygalaceae). Nature in Singapore 9: 139–147.
Lim, R.C.J., K.Y. Chong, Neo L., S.Y. Tan, C.Y. Koh, J.W. Loh, W.Q. Ng, W.W. Seah, A.T.K. Yee, H.T.W. Tan. (2016) Towards a field guide to the trees of the Nee Soon Catchment (III): Myristicaceae. Nature in Singapore 9: 69–138.
Neo, L., K.Y. Chong, S.Y. Tan, C.Y. Koh, R.C.J. Lim, J.W. Loh, W.Q. Ng, W.W. Seah, A.T.K. Yee, H.T.W. Tan. (2016) Towards a field guide to the trees of the Nee Soon Catchment (II): Cratoxylum (Hypericaceae). Nature in Singapore 9:29–39.
Chong, K.Y., L. Neo, S.Y. Tan, C.Y. Koh, R.C.J. Lim, J.W. Loh, W.Q. Ng, W.W. Seah, A.T.K. Yee, H.T.W. Tan. (2016) Towards a field guide to the trees of the Nee Soon Catchment (I): Lauraceae. Nature in Singapore 9: 1–28.

 

 

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