Profile
DR. OW YAN XIANG
Dr. Ow Yan Xiang
SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW
Dr Ow Yan Xiang is a Senior Research Fellow with St John's Island National Marine Laboratory, Singapore. After graduating from the National University of Singapore, she joined the Tropical Marine Science Institute, NUS, to work on Singapore’s coral reefs.
To gain more insight into how marine phototrophs adapt to their environment, she did her PhD with James Cook University, Australia (2012-2015) to study the physiological responses of tropical seagrasses to declining water quality and ocean acidification at the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.
Before joining SJINML, she held a post-doctoral research fellow position with the Department of Biological Sciences, NUS. Her research interest lies in examining the mechanisms through which marine phototrophs (i.e. corals, seagrasses, algae) respond and adapt to changes to their environments.
Areas of Interest
- Marine physiology
- Marine macrophytes
- Coastal ecology
- Ocean acidification
Projects
- 2016 – 2017: “Assessing the resilience and restoration potential of seagrass beds in Singapore”, National Parks Board. Role: Research fellow.
- 2018 – present: “Biota effects on the environment: an impact source neglected in EIAs”, Marine Science Research and Development Programme. Role: Research fellow.
- 2018 – present: “Development of an adaptive framework for assessing risk to environmental stress: an energetics approach to safeguarding Singapore’s corals”, National Parks Board. Role: Co-investigator.
Highlights
Marine phototrophs live in an environment that is changing, both on a global scale (climate change) and on a local scale (water quality). My research has shown that tropical seagrasses are able to increase productivity as the ocean becomes warmer and more acidic, but declining water quality can threaten their ability to do so.
Together with the Experimental Marine Ecology Lab in National University of Singapore, I am currently assessing the environmental and biological contributors to the resilience of Singapore’s seagrass beds. I am interested to continue exploring the finer mechanisms through which marine phototrophs respond to changes to their environments.
Publications
Olsen, Y.S., Collier, C.J., Ow, Y.X. and Kendrick, G.A. (2018) Global Warming and Ocean Acidification: Effects on Australian Seagrass Ecosystems. In: Seagrasses of Australia. Larkum, A.W.D., Kendrick, G.A. and Ralph P.J. (eds.). Springer International, the Netherlands.
Collier, C. J., Langlois, L., Ow, Y.X., Johansson, C., Giammusso, M., Adams, M. P., O’Brien, K. R. and Uthicke, S. (2018). Losing a winner: thermal stress and local pressures outweigh the positive effects of ocean acidification for tropical seagrasses. New Phytologist. 219: 1005-1017.
Fong, J., Lai, S., Yaakub, S., Ow, Y.X. and Todd, P.A. (2018). The diet and feeding rates of gastropod grazers in Singapore’s seagrass meadows. Botanica Marina, 61:181-192.
Collier C.J., Ow Y.X., Langlois L., Uthicke S., Johansson C.L., O’Brien K.R., Hrebien V. and Adams M.P. (2017). Optimum temperatures for net primary productivity of three tropical seagrass species. Frontiers in Plant Science 8: 1446
Adams M.P., Collier C.J., Uthicke S., Ow Y.X., Langlois L. and O’Brien K.R. (2017). Model fit versus biological relevance: Evaluating photosynthesis-temperature models for three tropical seagrass species. Scientific Reports 7: e39930.
Ow Y.X., Vogel N., Collier C.J., Holtum J.A.M., Flores F. and Uthicke S. (2016) Nitrate fertilisation does not enhance CO2 responses in two tropical seagrass species. Scientific Reports 6: 23093.
Ow Y.X., Uthicke S. and Collier C.J. (2016) Light levels affect carbon utilisation in tropical seagrass under ocean acidification. PLoS ONE 11(3): e0150352.
Ow Y.X., Collier C.J. and Uthicke S. (2015) Responses of three tropical seagrass species to CO2 enrichment. Marine Biology 162: 1005-1017.
Ow Y.X. and Todd P.A. (2010). Light-induced morphological plasticity in Goniastrea pectinata and its functional significance. Coral Reefs 29: 797-808.
