User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
During the first sampling collection, I used quadrats to sample Aspen trees wanting to determine if younger trees (saplings) were growing towards the field due to the availability of light. My sampling method had some issues that I will resolve by modifying my approach. I found that the Aspen stand was a lot smaller than I had originally determined and that almost 6 of the quadrants did not have any Aspen in them which would have skewed the data. Furthermore I was only sampling one tree per quadrant and this would not have produced enough data.
Moving forward I will be using a random sampling method using transects from the field into the forest. I will start with steps from the southwest corner of the field and sample at 1m, 9m, 17m, 25m and 33m distance from the field. I will also split my sampling into mature (breast height circumference over 10 cm) and young ( breast height circumference under 10cm) and new shoots (under 2cm). This will ensure that I can determine the the average number of trees per square meter in each part of the forest sampled for both young and mature trees.
It sounds like you have done some thinking on your sampling strategy and this sounds like a good start, I’ll have to see your small assignment to comment more