Modifications on the Strand’s Sampling Method Applied to Stands of Pinus elliottii Engelm

This work was carried out with the objective of proposing some changes in the Strand’s sampling method, in which the trees are selected in sampling units with probability proportional to its diameter for the calculation of the stand density and basal area, and proportional to its height for the calculation of volume per hectare. Data used to evaluate the efficiency of the sampling of Strand in clusters were collected in stands of Pinus elliottii Engelm, located in a National Forest, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. In the course of this research work it was proposed to convert the sampling unit into a cluster, structurally more efficient to obtain consistent estimates of volume and of dominant heights, using volumetric equivalence, which results in a form factor equal to one for the final calculation of volume per hectare and an indirect method to obtain the average height of Lorey. The objectives of this study were achieved, because with this methodology it is not necessary to measure heights of trees in the sampling unit, except a dominant height by cluster to evaluate sites. The development of independent estimators for basal area and volume gave rise to the proposition of an estimator for average height of Lorey, but without measuring any tree height in the sampling. The proposed methodology is an attractive solution to reduce costs in forest inventories, with the ability to have greater accuracy and scope for information at the level of compartments, without increasing the cost of sampling in comparison to that performed with units of fixed area. The use of smaller permanent sampling units with higher intensity in the compartments before the final cut will substantially increase the precision of the estimators in these management units, which will enable them to eliminate the pre-cut inventory in forest enterprises.