Monitoring environmental change with color slides

Monitoring human impact on outdoor recreation sites and view landscapes is necessary to evaluate influences which may require corrective action and to determine if management is achieving desired goals. An inexpensive method to monitor environmental change is to establish camera points and use repeat color slides. Successful monitoring from slides requires the observer to determine if there are increases or decreases of trees, shrubs, or herbaceous plants; bare ground or duff; screening by trees; and soil erosion. Illustrated guidelines are given for land managers who must monitor human impact on recreation sites and view landscapes. Slides taken at various intervals demonstrate how to detect differences in views of timber harvesting, disturbed sites, and recreation sites, and suggests what to look for in scenes with subjects viewed from various distances. By using the process, visual sensitivity for detecting and evaluating environmental change, using repeat color photography , should be increased. Cover: Change in tree cover over a period of 17 years as a consequence of invasion of a road overcast near the Monitoring human impact on outdoor recreation sites and view landscapes is necessary to evaluate influences that may require corrective action and to determine if management actions are achieving desired ecological and esthetic goals. Using ecological surveys to monitor environmental change is costly, and may not be necessary where there is little or no change. An alternative may be to establish permanent camera points and use repeat photography, employing 35 millimeter color slides. Photographic monitoring may be considered an "early warning system" that would activate an ecological survey only if adverse trends are detected. The difficulty with photographic monitoring rests with the ability of the observer to analyze slides or photographs for ii chronological changes, which are often subtle and difficult to detect and interpret. Professional resource training and interest in the environment are an asset for recognizing changes, but without additional training, essential details may be missed. Successful monitoring of environmental change from slides requires the observer to determine if there are increases or decreases in the following: tree, shrub, or herbaceous plant cover; bare ground or duff; screening by trees or shrubs; and soil erosion. An illustrated guide is provided for land managers who must monitor human impact on outdoor recreation sites and view landscapes. Slides taken from 1960 to 1970 were repeated in 1985 or 1986. These slide pairs or triplets are used to demonstrate how to …