Monitoring the vegetation structure of south-central Etosha National Park using terrestrial photographs

Abstract

In 1984, a ground-based, photographic library was initiated for monitoring the vegetation dynamics in Etosha National Park. Over 400 photographic points were selected. At these points, panchromatic photographs were taken at intervals of six years. This study was undertaken to assess the applicability of this terrestrial photographic library in characterising the dynamics of the vegetation structure in south-central Etosha National Park. The methods employed include field validation, visual photograph interpretations, spatial analysis, and aggregated two-dimensional tables. Results, though patchy in nature, show that the vegetation structure at 63 % of the sites covered remained either unchanged or increased over the 15-year study period. The patchiness of the photo points can be exploited and be treated as training sites for corresponding satellite image classifications to provide continuous ground coverage results.