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For the sampling strategy virtual forest tutorial, I selected area-based methods. The most efficient technique in terms of time spent sampling was systemic sampling technique, as it had the fastest estimated sampling time. The systematic strategy was the most accurate sampling strategy for the most common species and the haphazard strategy was most accurate for the least common species. However, the systematic strategy was only the most accurate for the most common species and the haphazard strategy was most accurate for the rest of the species. Accuracy declined as species became less abundant (from common to rare species). Overall, the haphazard strategy was most accurate. The random strategy was the least accurate. I believe that in this case, the haphazard strategy was most accurate because I chose the sampling points within each sampling zone (separated by transects) randomly, so the method that I deployed was similar to the stratified random sampling technique, which is the sampling technique that I will use in my field research.
