UCBN Photomonitoring
Background and UCBN Involvement
The phrase "a photograph is worth a thousand words" captures the essence of the value ground-based photographs can have to a monitoring program. Photographs of landscapes are rich datasets that are very accessible to a broad audience and can quickly transmit a tremendous amount of useful information. Historic photographs are particularly valuable because they may contain as much or more information about past environmental conditions than accompanying written material. Wright and Bunting (1993) provided an excellent example of the use of historical photographs from Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. Today, photography is a relatively inexpensive and efficient way to capture current landscape conditions and can be easily archived for future reference. It is also unobtrusive, and does not contribute to trampling and the "wear out effect" that can be problematic for other vegetation sampling methods. The most powerful application of photography to monitoring involves repeat photography, the art and science of relocating and re-photographing previously photographed scenes. Repeat photography can be readily employed in the Upper Columbia Basin Network (UCBN) to generate both qualitative and quantitative information about trends and changes in park ecosystems. The UCBN has developed a series of draft standard operating procedures based on the comprehensive suggestions provided by Hall (2002) and has initiated photomonitoring projects for the Doan Creek restoration at Whitman Mission National Historic Site and along Jim Ford Creek at Nez Perce National Historical Park's Weippe Prairie Unit. These efforts will provide important interim feedback to park managers while the UCBN develops a more comprehensive integrated riparian protocol and have provided an important opportunity for the UCBN to explore the role of repeat photography in its monitoring program. The UCBN anticipates incorporating available historic photography and updating appropriate historic photopoints throughout the Network as time and resources permit.
Photomonitoring Objectives
- To evaluate methods outlined in the draft UCBN photomonitoring standard operating procedures, with particular focus on precise duplication of repeat photography and change detection.
- To provide a qualitative record of change for the Doan Creek Restoration at Whitman Mission NHS and NEPE's Weippe Prairie.
- To identify useful historical landscape photographs of UCBN parks suitable for repeat photography and analysis of change beginning in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.
- To locate and rephotograph a select set of high quality historical landscape photographs within UCBN parks to facilitate our understanding of environmental changes over the historical period.
Preliminary Results and Future Plans
In June 2008, the UCBN completed its 3rd year of repeat photography along Doan Creek at Whitman Mission National Historical Site that is undergoing active restoration. A review of the approaches used to preserve photograph geometry and precise duplication, as well as an update on change detection, will be reported in Winter 2009. Grid intersect analysis conducted on several 2006 and 2007 photopoints provided evidence for large (> 40%) increases in invasive forb cover, which are also evident from a qualitative review of these photos. Baseline photographs were established along Jim Ford Creek at NEPE's Weippe Prairie in 2007 and these are scheduled for rephotographing in 2009. The objectives pertaining to historic photographs have not yet been pursued. Download the available Google Earth kmz files for WHMI and Weippe Prairie photomonitoring projects for easy viewing.
Contact Information
Tom Rodhouse
Upper Columbia Basin Network Ecologist
National Park Service
2600 NW College Way - Ponderosa Bldg.
Bend, OR 97701
Email
Document Links:
- Resource Brief (link to Reports & Pubs page)
- WHMI Photomonitoring SOP – Photopoint Establishment (March 2005)
- WHMI Photomonitoring SOP – Photography (March 2005)
- WHMI Photomonitoring SOP – Field Procedures (March 2005)
Data Links:
Instructions for use of UCBN Google Earth KMZ project files.
Literature Cited
Hall, F.C. 2002. Photo point monitoring handbook. General Technical Report PNW-GTR-526. U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR. Parts A and B. 134 p.