Transcript 2011 Regional Management Team Meeting Data Collection Group

2012 User’s Group Meeting
Data Collection Group
Topic:
Incorporating Flexibilities in FIA
Data Collection Effort
Bob Ilgenfritz – Data Collection Group lead
Need for Greater Flexibility:
• Responsive to Budget fluctuations:
▫ Increasing/decreasing or flat
• Responsive to new natural resource
priorities or issues:
▫ Carbon/Biomass/Urban/Others
Five FIA Flexibility Tools:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Subpaneling
Interpenetrating subsampling of subpanels
Subsampling within plots
Level of attribution sampling
Temporal cycle lengths
Definitions
• Panel – A complete set of FIA plots completed in a
state in a year.
• Subpanel – A equally proportional subset of a cycle
with spatial distribution of plots across a state
• Cycle –The total of all plots in a state
• Sub-cycle – Number of subpanels (plots) done per
year
1. Subpaneling
• Each state’s panel is subdivided into 70 subpanels with roughly equal numbers of
plots in each subpanel.
• Why 70 subpanels?
• 10 year cycle in west and 7 year cycle in east with option to buy down to 5 year
cycle.
 5 year cycle = 14 subpanels/yr.
 7 year cycle = 10 subpanels/yr.
 10 year cycle = 7 subpanels/yr.
• Decreased budgets - Completing fewer subpanels per year increases cycle length
and decreases the number of plots done per year
• Increased budgets - Completing more subpanels per year decreases cycle length
and increases the number of plots done per year
2. Interpenetrating subsample of
subpanels – P3 and P2+ plots
• Panel
70 subpanels
subsample of each subpanel
▫ Predetermined sample %
▫ Assure that subsample of subpanel is spatial too
▫ Subsample % of total plots is constant regardless of the
cycle length
• Past
 P3 – 1 of every 16 FIA plots is a P3 plot
• Current
 P2+ - 1 of every 8 FIA plots is a P2+ plot
2. Interpenetrating subsample of
subpanels
• Future?
▫ Increase P2+ subsample size from 1 in 8 to:
 3 in 16 – 3 X P3 sample
 1 in 4 – 4 X P3 sample
▫ Subsample size based on protocol type and respective
window:
 Soils – Frost free soils window
 DWM - Snow free window
 Vegetation/Invasives/Regeneration – Leaf on window
3. Subsampling within plots
• Not currently in use but:
▫ We could sample protocols or individual data items on
a subsample of the subplots, microplots or macroplots.
• Examples:
▫ Protocols:
 Veg/DWM/Invasives/Crowns on fewer than all 4 subplots
 Advanced Seedling Tree Regeneration on fewer than all 4
microplots
4. Level of attribution sampling
• Down Woody Materials:
▫ Base – captures volume,
biomass, carbon, and fuel
loads
▫ Wildlife/ecological data Base plus additional CWD
structural variables for
wildlife habitat (P3
protocols)
▫ Rapid assessment –
customized protocol
designed for disturbances
Hurricanes, volcanoes, etc.
• P2 Vegetation Profile:
▫ Level of Detail 1–
Vegetation structure
▫ Level of Detail 2 – Veg
structure plus understory
species composition
▫ Level of Detail 3 – Level
of detail 2 plus overstory
species composition
▫ P3 Veg – Botanist
identifies all veg species
on sample plot
5. Temporal Cycle Length
• Remeasurement cycle relative to protocol’s potential
for change.
▫ Less potential for change - longer remeasurement
cycle
▫ More potential for change – shorter remeasurement
cycle
• Example:
▫ Soils and current 10 years remeasurement. Results of
first remeasurement may indicate need for longer
cycle length.
2012 User’s Group Meeting Data Collection Group
Topic:
P2+
November 27, 2012
P3 Redesign in Summer 2012– What is “P2 +”
• Leaf on “Window” Plots and an expansion of the P3 Sample:
▫
Carbon, Biomass, Vegetation Structure, Invasives, Wildlife, Fuel Loads, and Tree
Regeneration
• Interpenetrating Sample of FIA Sub Panels
▫ Flexible and Consistent Sampling Percentages Regardless of Cycle Length
• Designed to Meet Data Collection Business Models
▫ Including Contractors and One Person Crews
• Less Detailed Data / Greater Sample Size
▫ Better suited for FIA’s strategic sample-based inventory
P2+ Protocols
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Crown Dieback and Uncompacted Crown Ratio
Base Down Woody Material (DWM)
Vegetation Structure by Growth Habitat
Invasive Plants
ASTR - Advanced Seeding Tree Regeneration
Soils on P3 sample
Pros to P2+
• More plots for less or similar costs
• More plots mean greater sample size, finer
resolution data, and greater utility to more users.
Better meets the needs of a strategic inventory.
• Cost savings helped re-initiate FIA ecosystem
indicators -DWM lite, Veg lite, Invasives, Crowns lite,
regional protocol ASTR, and Soils.
P2 +Sample Size Implementation Schedule
• Summer 2012 – Double P3 Sample
▫ 1 of every 8 plots or 12.5%
• Summer 2013 – Same sample size as 2012
▫ Evaluate time study from last summer.
 Identify P2+ protocols that are outliers
 Redesign protocols if necessary
Questions???
P2+ Data
• P2 Vegetation
▫ Vegetation by growth habitat




Tally trees
Non tally trees
Shrubs/Vines
Graminoids
▫ Species composition ?????
P2+ Data
• P2 DWM protocols – Down Woody Material
▫ Captures volume, carbon, biomass, and fuel loading
• Crowns
▫ Uncompacted crown ratio
▫ Die back