Data Observational Study

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Data collection

Four sites were sampled from the Priest River Experimental Forest in Idaho. Sample plot locations were specifically chosen to compare different areas. At each site, each group used a GPS to navigate to a specific destination for further observational studies. The elevation in meters was then recorded from the GPS. The range of the observational study was made within a circular plot with a radius of 18 meters and approximately 0.1 hectares. Two meter tapes were set perpendicular to one another so that the diameter of the circular plot extended to 36 meters. Within these plots, all trees that are over 10 cm in diameter are identified and measured. Calipers and DBH tapes were used to measure these diameters. A BAF 10 prism …show more content…

This was done by imagining four dots in a grid and counting up how many dots were covered out of a total of 96. 1.04 was multiplied to each total of covered dots. An average of the densitometer counts in both transects were calculated to provide the percent canopy in that region. The percentage of the slope was measured with a clinometer. We were to face the downhill direction and record the number that corresponds to that specific slope. An aspect was then taken at that point, which would note for the direction of the slope. An additional 15 degrees was added to include any uncertainties. That value was then converted to randians and consined. The number of canopies was observed by starting from the forest floor, to the herbaceous layer, to the understory mid canopy layer, to the overstory canopy layer, and to the emergent layer, if there was any. From the data received from our particular sites, there were no emergents. The stem density was also measured by adding up all the trees observed in the circular plot and was multiplied by 10 to measure the stems per hectares. Basal area was calculated by converting the tree diameters into area (m2), which were all added and multiplied by 10. This was the same way Basal

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