User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
The virtual forest sampling tutorial was a good learning experience about, haphazard, random/systemic and random/Systematic Area sampling. I looked at the Mohn Mill area and sampled 30 quadrants with each method as I felt that would achieve the greatest diversity or greatest possible diversity as you sample a larger area.The area haphazard method produced the fastest time at 9hr 1 min sampling 30 quadrants, 3 hours quicker than the systematic/random area sampling method. The percentage error for the two most common and rare species are as follows :
Haphazard
Common Rare
Red Maple – 9% Black Tupelo – 87%
White Oak – 45% Striped Maple – 99%
Random/Systemic
Red maple – 6% Black Cherry – 75%
White Oak – 6% Hawthorn – 25%
Radom/systematic
Red Maple – 3% White Ash – 77%
White Oak – 19% Basswood – 77 %
The accuracy changed dramatically according the abundance of species most especially with the rarest. Random/Systemic area sampling produced the largest species list, and estimated numbers closet to the actual data, it also had the lowest percentage of error between the three methods. It did not achieve the fastest estimated time but it was not the slowest and it was the most accurate.
