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In the virtual forest tutorial I used the area based sampling method for all three sampling strategies. The technique from the fastest estimated sampling time to the slowest estimated sampling time was systematic sampling technique at 12 hours and 7 minutes, haphazard at 12 hours and 27 minutes and random sampling at 12 hours and 47 minutes. The 2 most common species in the Snyder-Middleswarth Natural Area were Eastern Hemlock and Red Maple. The 2 rarest species were Striped Maple and White Pine. The percentage error for Eastern Hemlock for systematic, random and haphazard sampling were respectively: 3.34%, 4.23%, and 8.17%. The percentage error for Red Maple for systematic, random and haphazard sampling were respectively: 5.38%, 40.45%, and 19.42%. The percentage error for Striped Maple for systematic, random and haphazard sampling were respectively: 90.29%, 18.86%, and 28.57%. The percentage error for White Pine for systematic, random and haphazard sampling were respectively: 100%, 50% and 296.42%. The accuracy changed with species abundance. For the two most common species the sampling strategy that was more accurate was systematic. For the two rarest species the sampling strategy that was more accurate was random sampling. The accuracy declined for rare species. The large percentage error may be because 24 was not a sufficient number of sample points to capture the number of species in this community or to accurately estimate the abundance of these species.
