Performance assessment of two plotless sampling methods for density estimation applied to some Alpine forests of northeastern Italy
Monica Notarangelo (1) , Marco Carrer (2), Emanuele Lingua (2), Nicola Puletti (1), Chiara Torresan (3)
iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 16, Issue 6, Pages 385-391 (2023)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor4335-016
Published: Dec 19, 2023 - Copyright © 2023 SISEF
Research Articles
Abstract
In this study, we tested two plotless sampling methods, the ordered distance method and point-centred quarter method, to estimate the tree density and basal area in some managed Alpine forests in northeastern Italy. We selected nine independent forest stands, classified according to the spatial distribution patterns of trees (cluster, random, regular). A plotless sampling survey was simulated within the selected stands and the tree density and basal area were estimated by applying both the ordered distance method and point-centred quarter method. We compared the estimates, in terms of accuracy and precision, between the two methods and against estimates obtained from a simulated survey based on a plot-based sampling method. The point-centred quarter method outperformed the ordered distance method in terms of both accuracy and precision, showing higher robustness towards the bias related to non-random spatial patterns. However, both the plotless methods we tested can provide unbiased accuracy of estimates which, in addition, do not differ from estimates of plot-based sampling. The satisfactory results are encouraging for further tests over other Italian Alpine as well as Apennine forests. If confirmed, the plotless sampling method, especially the point-centred quarter method, could represent an effective alternative whenever plot-based sampling is deemed redundant, or expensive.
Keywords
Distance-based Density Estimator, Ordered Distance Method, Point-centred Quarter Method, Accuracy, Precision, Conditional Inference Trees, Forest Monitoring
Authors’ Info
Authors’ address
Nicola Puletti 0000-0002-2142-959X
Research centre for forestry and wood - Council for Agricultural Research and Economics - CREA, p.za Nicolini 6, I-38123 Trento (Italy)
Emanuele Lingua 0000-0001-9515-7657
Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry - TESAF, University of Padua, v.le dell’Università 16, I-35020 Legnaro, PD (Italy)
Institute of BioEconomy, National Research Council of Italy, v. Biasi 75, I-38098 San Michele all’Adige, TN (Italy)
Corresponding author
Paper Info
Citation
Notarangelo M, Carrer M, Lingua E, Puletti N, Torresan C (2023). Performance assessment of two plotless sampling methods for density estimation applied to some Alpine forests of northeastern Italy. iForest 16: 385-391. - doi: 10.3832/ifor4335-016
Academic Editor
Mirko Di Febbraro
Paper history
Received: Feb 23, 2023
Accepted: Oct 25, 2023
First online: Dec 19, 2023
Publication Date: Dec 31, 2023
Publication Time: 1.83 months
Copyright Information
© SISEF - The Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology 2023
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Web Metrics
Breakdown by View Type
Article Usage
Total Article Views: 10397
(from publication date up to now)
Breakdown by View Type
HTML Page Views: 8924
Abstract Page Views: 791
PDF Downloads: 596
Citation/Reference Downloads: 3
XML Downloads: 83
Web Metrics
Days since publication: 356
Overall contacts: 10397
Avg. contacts per week: 204.44
Citation Metrics
Article Citations
Article citations are based on data periodically collected from the Clarivate Web of Science web site
(last update: Feb 2023)
(No citations were found up to date. Please come back later)
Publication Metrics
by Dimensions ©
Articles citing this article
List of the papers citing this article based on CrossRef Cited-by.
References
Classification and regression trees. Taylor and Francis, Wadsworth International Group, Belmont, CA, USA, pp. 386.
Gscholar
Introduction to distance sampling: estimating abundance of biological populations. Oxford University Press, Oxford, USA, pp. 448.
Gscholar
A quantitative method of habitat description. National Audubon Society, Audubon Field Notes 24 (6): 727-736.
Gscholar
A comparison of distance sampling methods in Saxaul (Halloxylon ammodendron Camey Bunge) shrub-lands. Polish Journal of Ecology 61: 207-219.
Gscholar
Ecological methodology (2nd edn). Benjamin Cummings, Menlo Park, CA, USA, pp. 620.
Gscholar
Point-centered quarter analysis of four forest types at Hayes Arboretum in Wayne County, Indiana. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 117 (2): 136-141.
Gscholar
Sampling techniques for forest resource inventory. Wiley and Sons, New York, USA, pp. 372.
Gscholar
Comparative evaluation of accuracy and efficiency of six forest sampling methods. Proceedings of Oklahoma Academic Sciences 82: 49-56.
Gscholar