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Shahid Naeem
Title Professor and Chair
Affiliation/Department Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University
Telephone 212-854-4499
Email sn2121@columbia.edu
Website http://www.columbia.edu/~sn2121/
Professional Degree Ph.D., Zoology, University of California, Berkley, 1989
Research Keywords Biodiversity, population biology, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, invasions, global change
Research Description Shahid Naeem studies the ecological and environmental consequences of biodiversity loss. He is interested in how changes in the distribution and abundance of plants, animals, and microbes, affect how ecosystems function and, by extension, how ecosystems services are affected. His work combines theoretical, observational, and experimental studies under field and laboratory conditions, to uncover the mechanistic bases for the impacts of biodiversity loss on ecosystems. His work has demonstrated how the loss of species from ecosystems affect their ability to resist invasion by other species, affect production and nutrient cycling, and affect the reliability and stability of ecosystems. He is actively involved in bringing the science of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning to conservation, restoration, and policy development.
Representative Publications

Recent Publications
Bai, Yongfei; Wu, Jianguo; Clark, Christopher M; Naeem, Shahid; Pan, Qingming; Huang, Jianhui; Zhang, Lixia; Han, Xingguo, 201. Tradeoffs and thresholds in the effects of nitrogen addition on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: Evidence from Inner Mongolia Grassland. Global Change Biology.

Michael E. Hochberg, J. M. C., Nicholas J. Gotelli, Alan Hastings, Shahid Naeem,.2009. The tragedy of the reviewer commons. Ecology Letters 12:2-4.

Richardson, Nehemiah F., J. L Ruesink, S. Naeem, S. D. Hacker, H. M. Tallis, B. Dumbauld, L. M. Wisehart. 2008. Bacterial abundance and aerobic microbial activity across natural and oyster aquaculture habitats during summer conditions in a northeastern Pacific estuary. Hydrobiologia 596: 269-278.

Knops, J.M.H., S. Naeem and P. Reich. 2007. The impact of elevated CO2, increased nitrogen availability and biodiversity on plant tissue quality and decomposition. Global Change Biology 13, 1960-1971

Fuhrman, J. A. I Hewson, M. S. Schwalbach, J. A. Steele, M. V. Brown, and S. Naeem. 2006. Annually reoccurring bacterial communities are predictable from ocean conditions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103: 13104-13109

Martiny, J. B. H., B. J. M. Bohannan, J. H. Brown, R. K. Colwell, J. A. Fuhrman, J. L. Green, M. C. Horner-Devine, M. Kane, J. A. Krumins, C. R. Kuske, P. J. Morin, S. Naeem, L. Ovreas, A.-L. Reysenbach, V. H. Smith, and J. T. Staley. 2006. Microbial biogeography: putting microorganisms on the map. Nature Review Microbiology 4:102-112.

Fridley, J.D., Stachowicz, J.J., Naeem, S., Sax, D.F., Seabloom, E.W., Smith, M.D., Stohlgren, T.J., Tilman, D., and Von Holle, B. (in press) The invasion paradox: reconciling pattern and process in species invasions. Ecology

Naeem, S. 2006. Expanding scales in biodiversity-based research: Challenges and solutions for marine systems. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 311:273-283

Reich, P. B., S. E. Hobbie, T. Lee, D. S. Ellsworth, J. B. West, D. Tilman, J. M. H. Knops, and S. T. Naeem, J. 2006. Nitrogen limitation constrains sustainability of ecosystem response to CO2. Nature 440:922-925.

Wright, J. P., S. Naeem, A. Hector, C. Lehman, P. B. Reich, B. Schmid, and D. Tilman. 2006. Conventional functional classification schemes underestimate the relationship with ecosystem functioning. Ecology Letters 9:111-120.
Current Research Currently, Dr. Naeem's field work concerns how extrinsic factors, such as soil fertility and disturbance, interact with plant biodiversity to regulate the spread of invasive plant species in old fields at the Cedar Creek LTER in Minnesota. He plans to expand this work to Black Rock Forest here in New York. His theoretical work examines how mathematical models developed for reliability engineering can be used for understanding how the reliability of ecosystems are affected by biodiversity loss, global change, management, and environmental degradation. His synergistic work involves coordinating a group effort to predict the local, regional, and global impacts of biodiversity loss across a wide variety of ecosystems.