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Nur Ritter is restoration ecologist for The Nature Conservancy's New Hampshire Chapter, where he oversees the development and implementation of our ecological restoration plans across the state.  Prior to joining the Conservancy, Dr. Ritter spent six years managing a complex ecological restoration effort on former agricultural lands in central California and co-authored a comprehensive study of Atlantic white cedar swamps in New Hampshire.  He completed his Masters and Ph.D. work at the University of New Hampshire and brings to TNC substantial expertise in botany, ecology, quantitative analysis, and applied restoration.  Get Involved   Learn about the many ways you can help support conservation efforts in New Hampshire and beyond. Go Deeper Restoring New Hampshire's Ossipee Pine Barrens Protecting land is an essential ingredient in the recipe for conserving the Ossipee Pine Barrens. But land protection alone is not enough. See what we're doing to restore this globally rare forest type. Restoring a Floodplain on the Illinois River The largest project of its kind in the Midwest is expected to become a model restoration effort across the globe.

 

To restore some of New Hampshire's own rarest ecosystems, The Nature Conservancy has recently hired Nur Ritter, who brings a wealth of experience and energy to the challenge. (See more about Nur's background, right).

Nur answers some questions about the work of a restoration ecologist and his challenges in New Hampshire.

nature.org:  What does a restoration ecologist do?

Nur Ritter:  A restoration ecologist helps facilitate the recovery of altered or damaged ecosystems.  In the strictest interpretation of restoration, the goal is to recreate the historical biotic communities that characterized the site prior to human disturbance.  This would include the plants, mammals, birds, insects, and even the soil microorganisms that once comprised that particular community.

But in practice, it’s extremely difficult to even know all of the species that were present at a particular site, let alone know what would be necessary to get these species successfully established.  And as the goal of the restoration increases in complexity, so does the cost. So, in practice, the goal of restoration needs to be something other than a complete historic recreation.  Over time, our aim is to restore ecosystem functions and create self-supporting communities.

nature.org:  What’s entailed in restoring an ecosystem?

Nur Ritter: The approach will vary quite a bit from project to project, and some steps begin long before revegetation, or actually seeding or transplanting a site.  We generally need to physically modify a site, like clear existing vegetation or modify the terrain. We may want to do some baseline monitoring of the site before restoration.  It may be necessary to do some form of weed control, sometimes a year or more before attempting to reestablish native vegetation.

An imperative of restoration practice is to use seed sources from populations near the site.  So, this means collecting and cleaning seed during the years before revegetation.  If the restoration approach includes transplanting seedlings, then those seedlings need to be grown out in the year or two ahead.  After planting, we have to monitor the plants and may have to do things like irrigate them and control weeds and pests.

nature.org:  What are some of the biggest challenges facing restoring ecosystems?

Nur Ritter: Based on my work to date, the three biggest hurdles will usually be: weed control, unfavorable weather conditions, and lack of knowledge regarding species’ requirements. Also, a lack of local seed sources can frequently be a major hurdle.  This isn’t really too surprising, since if there’s a need for restoring a particular plant community, there aren’t usually many local occurrences of that community.

nature.org:  Where are some of your favorite ecosystems in New Hampshire; why do you like these places?

Nur Ritter: I’m very drawn to the state’s various Atlantic white cedar swamps.  I’m one of those odd people that really like wetlands, and I find the cedar swamps to be particularly beautiful.  I also really like alpine ecosystems, and New Hampshire has lots of great alpine areas.

nature.org: What are you looking forward to as you start engaging in restoration efforts here?

Nur Ritter:  I’m very excited about undertaking some restoration work in New Hampshire.  One of the first projects that I’m really looking forward to entails restoring parts of the Ossipee Pine Barrens. One of the Conservancy’s recent acquisitions there includes a former gravel operation that we’d like to restore back to pine barrens.

I’m also excited about becoming re-familiarized with the state’s flora, so I’m looking forward to cultivating some of these species.  Although there’s no specific plans to restore any Atlantic white cedar swamps now, I’m hoping that the opportunity will come up in the future.

Finally, one of the things that I find very appealing about restoration is that there is great potential for community participation. I’d very much like to incorporate volunteers in the various restoration projects.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Jerry & Marcy Monkman (www.ecophotography.com) (Great Bay); Photo © Eric Aldrich/TNC (Nur Ritter).