Using Repeat Landscape Photography to Assess Vegetation Changes in Rural Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, USA

Repeat photography is' a useful tool for evaluating historical landscape change. The objective of this study was to use ground-based repeat photography to quantify landscape vegetation. changes during the period of 1880-2008 and to evaluate methods employed in repeat photography. The historical photographs included 237 landscape photographs taken in 1880 In the southern Appalachian Mountains. Fifty:We photographs were successfully relocated, and the photograph pairs were analyzed for changes In cover classes. and changes by topographical position Farm 1880 to 2008; forest land was the most stable cover type. (98% of forested land in 1880 remained forested in 2008). Some of the main patterns of land conversion during this time period were (1) agricultural land converted to forest (19%), (2) residential and commercial land converted to forest (18%), and (3) transportation systems converted to forest or agricultural land (57%). When combined with other historical land use methods, repeat photography can yield a detailed reconstruction of the historical profile of an area; however, if the original locations of the photographs are unknown, repeat photography Is a very time-intensive technique.