For this assignment I chose area based sampling technique
Which technique had the fastest estimated sampling time?
Systematic : Time: 12 hrs, 4 mins
Random : Time: 13 hrs, 8 mins
Haphazard : Time: 13 hrs, 16 mins
Compare the percentage error of the different strategies for the two most common and two rarest species.
The two most common species were the Eastern Hemlock 73% and the Sweet Birch 43% and the two rarest species were the Striped Maple 6% and the White Pine 4%.
% error of density for the different sampling strategies:
Eastern Hemlock
Systematic : 12.3%
Randomized : 28.3 %
Haphazard : 4.3%
Sweet Birch
Systematic : 23%
Randomized : 16.9%
Haphazard : 14%
Striped Maple
Systematic : 2.4%
Randomized : 47.8%
Haphazard : 65.3%
White Pine
Systematic : 5.7%
Randomized : 36.4%
Haphazard : 78%
Did the accuracy change with species abundance? Was one sampling strategy more accurate than another?
Systematic appeared to be the most accurate sampling technique due to the lower % error of density. Through the data we see that the accuracy lowers for the more rare species. We see that mainly a larger sample size / abundance increases