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1 January 2010 Aerial Photography: A Rapidly Evolving Tool for Ecological Management
Jessica L. Morgan, Sarah E. Gergel, Nicholas C. Coops
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Abstract

Ecological monitoring and management require detailed information over broad spatial scales. Historically, such information was often acquired through manual interpretation of aerial photographs. As traditional methods of analyzing aerial photographs can he time-consuming, subjective, and can require well-trained interpreters (who are currently in short supply), new approaches must be explored for collecting this ecological information. First, we discuss the benefits and challenges of using aerial photographs for ecological management. We then examine the eight fundamental characteristics used in photograph interpretation and discuss their ecological relevance. Third, we investigate the feasibility of digital-analysis methods (often used for analysis of satellite imagery) for providing more objective, consistent, and cost-effective results. We end with several examples of how the unique information from aerial photographs can aid in solutions to emerging challenges in ecological research and management, and how they may be further used with supplementary data sets.

© 2010 by American Institute of Biological Sciences. All rights reserved. Request permission to photocopy or reproduce article content at the University of California Press's Rights and Permissions Web site at www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp.
Jessica L. Morgan, Sarah E. Gergel, and Nicholas C. Coops "Aerial Photography: A Rapidly Evolving Tool for Ecological Management," BioScience 60(1), 47-59, (1 January 2010). https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2010.60.1.9
Published: 1 January 2010
JOURNAL ARTICLE
13 PAGES

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KEYWORDS
digital image analysis and interpretation
ecosystem management
high spatial-resolution imagery
historical information
remote sensing
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