Biwei

Dr. Low Bi Wei

Academic Qualifications

BSc (Hons) in Life Sciences, National University of Singapore

 

PhD in Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore

 

Research areas

Freshwater conservation, invasive species, freshwater fishes, ecological modelling

 

Research interests

Bi Wei’s research aims to better understand the conservation challenges posed to freshwater ecosystems in Tropical Asia by elucidating the diversity patterns and ecology of freshwater communities, and the trade-offs inherent in their sustainable management. To this end, he focuses on three main research themes that frequently overlap: 1) Asian freshwater fishes, 2) freshwater invasive species, and 3) freshwater community ecology and conservation.

 

Biography

Bi Wei is an invasion biologist and freshwater ichthyologist by training. His PhD research at NUS focused on elucidating the ecology, genomics and impacts of the highly invasive African sharptooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus) in Southeast Asia. His subsequent postdoctoral work focused on the use of odonates as biological control of urban aquatic insect pests and the documentation of Singapore’s historical biodiversity (at NUS, 2019–2021), and the impacts (and potential mitigation) of riverine fragmentation on gene flow in Southern Chinese fishes (at Lingnan University, 2021–2023). Bi Wei is a member of the IUCN Sundaic Freshwater Fish Red List Working Group, having assessed global extinction risks for 100 species. He is also the freshwater fishes team leader for the 3rd Singapore Red Data Book.

Bi Wei’s current work at the Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions focuses on developing a typology for integrating “green” and “grey” elements for coastal protection in Singapore, as well as using spatial models to identify potential sites for hybrid solutions.

Selected publications:

  • Low BW, Liew JH, Tan HH, Amirrudin A, Zeng Y, Yeo DCJ (2022) The invasion and impacts of the African sharptooth catfish (Clariidae: Clarias gariepinus) in the Malay Peninsula. Freshwater Biology 67: 1925–1937.
  • Low BW, Ng HH, Tan HH (2022) Two new species of blackwater catfishes (Siluriformes: Siluridae and Clariidae) from the Natuna Archipelago, Indonesia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 70: 385–396.
  • Low BW, Zeng Y, Tan HH, Yeo DCJ (2021) Predictor complexity and feature selection affect Maxent model transferability: Evidence from global freshwater invasive species. Diversity and Distributions 27: 497–511.
  • Choo MZJ, Low BW, Ngiam RWJ, Yeo DCJ (2021) Predation of mosquitos by odonates in a tropical urban environment: insights from functional response and field mesocosm experiments. Biological Control 161: 104702.
  • Tan HH, Lim KKP, Liew JH, Low BW, Lim RBH, Kwik JTB, Yeo DCJ (2020) The non-native freshwater fishes of Singapore: an annotated compilation. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 68: 150–195.
  • Tan HH, Lim KKP, Liew JH, Low BW, Lim RBH, Kwik JTB, Yeo DCJ (2020) The non-native freshwater fishes of Singapore: an annotated compilation. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 68: 150–195.
  • Liew JH, Lim BHR, Low BW, Mowe MAD, Ng TH, Zeng Y, Yeo DCJ (2020) Tropical freshwater ecosystems, biota, and anthropogenic activities with reference to South-East Asia. In: Woo PTK, Leong JA, Buchmann K (eds.), Climate Change and Infectious Fish Diseases. Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI).
  • Zeng Y, Low BW, Yeo DCJ (2016) Novel methods to select environmental variables in MaxEnt: A case study using invasive crayfish. Ecological Modelling 341: 5–13.
  • Low BW, Tan HH, Britz R (2014) Trichopodus poptae, a new anabantoid fish from Borneo (Teleostei: Osphronemidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 25: 69–77.
  • Ng HH, Low BW*, Kwik JTB, Yeo DCJ (2014) The tables are turned: an invasive species under potential threat. Biological Invasions 16: 1567–1571. (*Corresponding author)

Feature and publications in popular media:

  • Temasek, 5 June 2020. Can Dragonflies Keep Mosquitoes Away? Temasek Stories. [News feature]
  • 狮城有约 (Hello Singapore), 27 December 2019. 生态平衡:捕虫高手蜻蜓和动物保育 (Ecological balance: the master bug-catchers dragonflies and their conservation). Channel 8. [TV interview]
  • Khew C, 29 April 2016. Fishing for information. The Straits Times. [News feature]
  • Li Y, 2 March 2015. 守护东南亚土生鱼类 (Safeguarding the native fishes of Southeast Asia). Lianhe Zaobao. [News feature]

Conference and presentations:

Low BW. Invasive fish research in Tropical East Asia: current status and future directions. Learning from Aliens: New Directions in Environmental Humanities Research and Practice, Singapore, 4–5 May 2023.

Low BW, Rheindt FE, Suvarnaraksha A, Tan HH, Amirrudin A, Suh A, Yeo DCJ. The landscape genomics of the invasive African sharptooth catfish, Clarias gariepinus, in Southeast Asia. When Species Travel: On the Rise and Consequence of Invasive Ecologies in Asia and the West Pacific, Singapore, 17–18 February 2020.

Low BW, Rheindt FE, Suvarnaraksha A, Tan HH, Amirrudin A, Yeo DCJ. The landscape genomics of the invasive African sharptooth catfish, Clarias gariepinus, in Southeast Asia. 2nd Philippines Symposium on Freshwater Biodiversity and Ecosystems, Quezon City, Philippines, 11–14 December 2018.

Low BW, Liew JH, Amirrudin A, Tan HH, Yeo DCJ. Have invasive African sharptooth catfish displaced native counterparts in the Malay Peninsula? 3rd International Conference on Southeast Asian Gateway Evolution, Bogor, Indonesia, 28 August–1 September 2017.

Low BW, Tan HH, Ng HH, Yeo DCJ. A complex issue: taxonomic clarification of ‘Clarias batrachus’ in Southeast Asia. 1st Philippines Symposium on Freshwater Biodiversity and Ecosystems, Manila, Philippines, 7–10 June 2016.

Low BW, Ng HH, Kwik JTB, Tan HH, Yeo DCJ. The tables are turned: an invasive species under potential threat. Asian Fish Biodiversity Conference, Penang, Malaysia, 12–13 February 2014.

Low BW, Tan HH, Yeo DCJ. To each its own: ontogenetic dietary shifts facilitate coexistence of native and introduced Trichopodus International Conference on Challenges in Aquatic Sciences, Keelung, Taiwan, 15–21 March 2013.