EFFECT OF BORDERLINE TREES IN POPULATION PARAMETERS ESTIMATED BY VARIABLE SAMPLING AREA METHODS

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of the borderline tree in the population parameters estimated by Bitterlich (1948), Prodan (1968) and Strand (1958) sampling methods. The database came from a census carried out in a fragment of Mixed Ombrophylous Montana Forest located in the Campus III, of Federal University of Parana, Curitiba-PR, Brazil. All trees with DBH ≥ 10 cm were measured, identified, georeferenced, and considered as possible plot center of the sampling units in each method. The sampling simulation was conducted with 185 randomly selected points for the estimation of N.ha^-1, G.ha^-1 and V.ha^-1 to three different treatments: without the influence of borderline tree, count half borderline tree and count of partial borderline tree corrected by the P factor introduced by Péllico Netto (1994). Regardless of the method and the treatment used there was always an overestimation of N.ha^-1. To estimate the basal area and volume per hectare, the Bitterlich method achieved the best results, followed by Strand and Prodan, respectively. Application of P factor in borderline trees did not cause a significant improvement in the population estimators compared with the estimates generated by borderline trees counted as half a tree or without its influence.

forest inventory; sample unit; plot shape