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. Subpaneling 2. Interpenetrating subsampling of subpanels3. Subsampling within plots4. Level of attribution sampling5. 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+ Protocols1. Crown Dieback and Uncompacted Crown Ratio2. Base Down Woody Material (DWM) 3. Vegetation Structure by Growth Habitat4. Invasive Plants5. ASTR - Advanced Seeding Tree Regeneration 6. 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