Comparison of Plot Sizes for Forest Inventory in Natural Deciduous Forest In Korea

The plot design influences the budgets and the precision of forest inventory results. The objective of this study is to determine the efficiency of estimating forest variables such as tree density, basal area, volume, and species richness based on various plot sizes using fixed-area plot sampling in the natural deciduous forest of Pyeong-Chang County, Gang-won Province, Korea. In this study, 108 reference plots were established with a fixed plot size and shape of 0.09 ha ($30m{\times}30m$). In order to determine the optimal plot size for the interest of variables, each sample plot was established using different shapes (square, circle, and rectangle) and was divided into different plot sizes from 100 to $900m^2$. The mean relative difference (MRD) for the sum of the basal area and volume, and tree density per hectare decreased as plot size increased. But the MRD for three variables were only below 13% at the plot size of $500m^2$. Species richness for each reference stand observed ranging from 2 to 15 species, demonstrated highly positive significant relationships with plot size. The minimum plot size for the estimation of tree density, the sum of the BA and volume was determined to be about $400m^2$, whereas the estimation of species richness required a minimum plot size of $500m^2$.