Pacific Northwest Research Station

Title: Interpreting long-term trends in Blue Mountain ecosystems from repeat photography.

Author: Skovlin, Jon M.; Thomas, Jack Ward.

Date: 1995

Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-315. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 114 p

Station ID: GTR-PNW-315

Description: Photographs taken before 1925 were compared with photos taken as recently as 1992 to interpret changes within ecosystems in the Blue Mountains of Oregon. For discussion purposes, 10 ecosystems were aggregated into seven broad landscape systems. Nearly all systems exhibited some degree of conversion from herbaceous to woody forms of vegetation. Nonforested ecosystems improved markedly except in the riparian-aquatic habitats. Forested ecosystems were stressed from stand stagnation, conversion from pine to fir, serious insect infestations, and crown fires. This project shows how these ecosystems have changed since the advent of settlement by nonendemic people. It was carried out to assist land managers and researchers to develop strategies to improve ecosystem stability and thereby provide for resource sustainability.

Keywords: blue Mountains, Oregon, photography (repeat), photo history, long-term change, landscape ecology, ecosystem stability

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Citation

Skovlin, Jon M.; Thomas, Jack Ward.  1995.  Interpreting long-term trends in Blue Mountain ecosystems from repeat photography..   Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-315. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 114 p.