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Response of woody species to site factors in Maryland, USA: Evaluation of sampling plans and of continuous and binary measurement techniques

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Summary

A detailed analysis of sample plots quantifying woody vegetation and environment in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain of Maryland, USA, shows (1) that sample sites must be selected according to some formal design, and (2) that binary (presence or absence) measurement of species serves equally well as continuous measurements of importance value or percent cover in identifying significant species-environment relationships. A comparison of data from a set of samples located at the discretion of the investigators with a set chosen according to a predetermined stratified random sampling plan shows that each set produces different results. The samples located at the investigators' discretion show a larger number of significant species-environment relationships, and in addition, the outcomes of many individual species-environment tests differ between the two sets of samples. Binary and continuous measurements were compared within the random stratified samples, and nearly all species showed similar environmental trends whether analyzed by continuous or binary techniques. The differences between outcomes of binary and continuous techniques are of the magnitude which can be expected from random variation. These results suggest that where an area containing great floristic variation is to be sampled to identify species-environment relationships, the best sample plan would involve many species taken according to a carefully divised random sampling plan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

    Alan H. Strahler

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  1. Alan H. Strahler
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Additional information

Nomenclature follows Brown & Brown (1972), and Fernald (1950).

This manuscript was largely prepared during my tenure as a Charles Bullard Forest Research Fellow at Harvard University during the academic year 1973–74. I am indebted to the Bullard Fellowship Committee for personal and financial support. Field data were collected under support from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Power Plant Siting Program, through a contract administered by the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University. I am most grateful to Grace S. Brush, who directed the project activities and to Thompson Webb III, and Nicolay P. Timofeef for thorough review of the manuscript. C. Rhode helped devise the sample site selection plan. E. Gustafson drew the illustrations. T. Guarino and C. Salcido helped to prepare the manuscript. Computer funds were provided by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Bullard Fellowship Committee, and the Academic Senate of the University of California.

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Strahler, A.H. Response of woody species to site factors in Maryland, USA: Evaluation of sampling plans and of continuous and binary measurement techniques. Plant Ecol 35, 1–19 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02097131

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