Change detection of land cover in a meadow landscape : the\ud “Ranches” meadow, Silver Falls State Park, Oregon

From a landscape ecology perspective, meadows are often seen as landscapes in\ud transition. Succession and change in meadows may be investigated by considering the\ud physical and anthropogenic factors that influence the landscape through time. What is\ud often unknown is how changes occur and how physical and anthropogenic factors\ud contribute to these changes. The purpose of this study was to investigate land cover\ud changes between 1947 and 2003 in the “Ranches” meadow, located within Silver Falls\ud State Park, Oregon, and examine what physical and anthropogenic factors played a\ud role in these changes. The analysis was conducted by interpreting land cover patterns\ud from historical information, aerial photographs, and GIS data. The basic land cover\ud changes observed were that forest cover doubled in size, grassland and shrub cover\ud were reduced by half, and wetland cover grew by 9% between 1947 and 2003. The\ud factors of slope, historic vegetation, and land ownership all strongly influenced the\ud nature and distribution of these land cover changes. These results will provide land\ud managers with information useful for future restoration efforts and researchers with\ud additional findings to consider related to the landscape ecology of meadows