Small-format aerial photography for assessing change in wetland vegetation, Cheyenne Bottoms, Kansas

Abstract

Abstract Cheyenne Bottoms is a Ramsar wetland site in central Kansas, where the Nature Conservancy (NC) has undertaken an effort since the mid-1990s to maintain and restore marsh and wet-meadow habitats for migrating shorebirds and waterfowl. Small-format aerial photography was conducted using kites and a helium blimp in order to document changing water and vegetation conditions during the years 2002–2005. Pictures were taken repeatedly throughout the growing seasons with various film and digital cameras from heights of 100–150 m. Invasive cattails (Typha sp.) are a major concern; the spread of cattail thickets during the 1990s reduced the open marshes on which migrating shorebirds depend for feeding. The NC adopted a strategy in which drought episodes are exploited for control of cattails. During our study, a drought cycle took place. Both color-visible and color-infrared images depict the impact of changing water level on cattails, which over the course of two years (2002 to 2004) were largely eliminate...