A variable area plot method of assessment of forest condition and trend
The properties of a variable area sampling technique, by which the observer varies the search— radius to obtain approximately a prescribed number of woody plants in each tier measured, were determined by (i) comparison of fixed area and variable area sampling of a computer-mapped shrub population; (ii) comparison of results from fixed area and variable area sampling of woody plants exceeding about 2m height in a rata-kamahi forest; (iii) two variable area surveys of woody plants exceeding 30cm height in a beech forest.