Ali Alghamdi
Ph.D. Student
Dr. Diana Tomback's Lab
Department of Integrative Biology
When: 10/28/2025 - Time: 11:00 am
Where: Science Building 4127
Ecological Restoration in Forest and Aridland Systems: Nature-Based Solutions to Counter Disturbance and Degradation.
My dissertation investigates how ecosystems recover when disturbances push them to their resilience limits. In Yellowstone National Park, I examine how canopy openings created by mountain pine beetle outbreaks may provide opportunities for whitebark pine regeneration and how bison activity damages limber pines and their natural regeneration, testing forest resilience under new pressures. Extending these understandings to extremely degraded aridlands in Saudi Arabia, I evaluate approaches to guide active restoration where natural recovery is constrained. My studies outline a continuum from natural recovery to active intervention, highlighting the importance of identifying ecological warning signs before systems cross thresholds that demand human assistance.