The supporting roles of on-site photography

Abstract

The importance of on-site photography is often understated in texts on surveillance and monitoring, perhaps because ecology courses tend not to promote the camera as a valid research tool. Consequently, there are relatively few historic photographs showing the structure or composition of habitats on sites of conservation interest. This is a problem, because we are not very perceptive when it comes to noticing the early signs of habitat succession; we tend not to notice it until a habitat has changed beyond recognition. Perhaps this is because, on the one hand, if we visit an area regularly we adjust to the changes as they happen (because the vegetation looks very much the same from one day to the next). While on the other hand, if our visits are infrequent, our memories fade and become unreliable.