The Nature Conservancy

People

Robert D. Sutter
Regional Scientist/Senior Conservation Ecologist
Southern US Conservation Region, The Nature Conservancy

Contact Information
6114 Fayetteville Road, Suite 109
Durham, North Carolina 27713

Phone: (919) 484-7857
Fax: (919) 484-7357
E-mail: rsutter@tnc.org

Brief Biography
Robert D. Sutter provides and facilitates the incorporation of the best available and most current ecological information into The Nature Conservancy's conservation work, from the selection of sites to strategic planning and monitoring ecological change. His expertise is in developing ecologically-focused strategic conservation plans and adaptive management (sampling design, the analysis of monitoring data, and implementation of adaptive management) to measure the success of conservation. He has worked extensively in adaptive management, with work at several Department of Defense installations and has done ecological research in Southern Appalachian bogs, longleaf pine systems, prairie remnants and isolated wetlands. With others in TNC he was one of the leaders in the development of the conservation area planning process and developed the training workshop on ecological monitoring. He is active teaching conservation area planning and ecological management within TNC and to other conservation organizations (DoD, USFS, local land trusts). He has worked for over 20 years in the conservation field, 13 with TNC, and has over 36 publications and reports in the conservation literature.

Education
Masters of Science, Plant Population Ecology, 1980, Duke University
Undergraduate, Botany, 1976, Duke University

Selected Publications
Sutter, R.D. and G.P. Call. In prep. Restoring a barrens ecosystem in central Tennessee: conservation planning and ecosystem management at Arnold Air Force Base.

Sutter, R.D., D.R. Gordon, and J.J. Bachant. In prep. The use of desired future conditions in conservation planning: an example from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

Mehlman, David W. Sarah.E. Mabey, Charles Duncan, David N. Ewert, Becky Abel, David Cimprich, Rob Sutter, and Mark Woodrey. In prep. Conserving stopover sites for forest-dwelling migratory landbirds.

Sutter, R.D., Nathan T.Rudd, Karen Colson, Gwynn Crichton, Bill Crowell and Brandon Scarborough. In prep. Vegetation Changes after the Elimination of Grazing in a Southern Blue Ridge Wetland

Sutter, R.D., G. Crichton and the Southern Blue Ridge Core Team. 2001. Ecoregional plan for the southern Blue Ridge. The Nature Conservancy: Chapel Hill, NC.

White, P. and R.D. Sutter. 1999. Managing biodiversity in historic habitats: Case history of the southern Appalachian grassy balds in: Ecosystem Management for Sustainability. Edited by Peine, J.D. Lewis Publishers: Boca Raton, FL.

Rudd, N. and R.D. Sutter. 1998. Monitoring protocols for the barrens restoration demonstration project at Arnold Air Force Base, TN. The Nature Conservancy: Chapel Hill, NC.

Sutter, R.D. 1996. Monitoring in: Restoring Diversity, Strategies for Reintroduction of Endangered Plants. Edited by Falk, D.A., C.I. Millar, and M. Olwell. Island Press: Covelo, CA.

Rudd, N. and R.D. Sutter. 1996. Monitoring protocols for rare and endangered species and longleaf pine community types at Fort Bragg and Camp Mackall Military Reservations, NC. The Nature Conservancy: Chapel Hill, NC.

Sutter, R.D. and R. Kral. 1994. The ecology, status, and conservation of two non-alluvial wetland communities in the South Atlantic and Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain. Biological Conservation 68:235-243.

Sutter, R.D., S.E. Benjamin, N. Murdock, and B. Teague. 1993. Monitoring the effect of trampling on a low heath bald in the Southern Appalachians. Natural Areas Journal 13:250-255.