Abstract
In many applications of line intersect sampling, transects consist of multiple, connected segments in a prescribed configuration. The relationship between the transect configuration and the selection probability of a population element is illustrated and a consistent sampling protocol, applicable to populations composed of arbitrarily shaped elements, is proposed. It is shown that this protocol obviates the arbitrary practice of treating multiple intersections of a single particle as independent probabilistic events and preserves the design-unbiasedness of Kaiser's (1983, Biometrics 39, 965-976) conditional and unconditional estimators, suitably generalized to segmented transect designs. The relative efficiency and utility of segmented transect designs are also discussed from a fixed population perspective.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 139-154 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Environmental and Ecological Statistics |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 2005 |
Funding
This research was supported by funds from the USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, RWU-4104, through a cooperative agreement with the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. The authors also thank four anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments that improved the quality of the manuscript.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Yale University | |
| U.S. Forest Service-Retired | |
| Northern Research Station | RWU-4104 |
Keywords
- Coarse woody debris
- Design-unbiasedness
- Multiple intersections
- Transect configuration