Field Data Collection Can Be Expensive, Time Consuming, and Difficult; Particularly in Remote or Hard To Get To Places Like ‘The Mallee’ in Semi‐Arid Australia

Field data collection can be expensive, time consuming, and difficult. Pilot studies and power analysis provide guidance on sampling design but can be challenging to perform, as ecologists increasingly collect multiple types of data over different scales. We demonstrate a flexible simulation approach that informs what data are needed and how long those data will take to collect, under realistic fieldwork constraints with a case study in the semi‐arid mallee region of Australia. Combining data collection, analysis, and decision‐making processes in a flexible virtual setting can help address many of the decisions that field ecologists face when designing field‐based research. These photographs illustrate the article “A field ecologist's adventures in the virtual world: using simulations to design data collection for complex models” by Freya M. Thomas, Peter A. Vesk, and Cindy E. Hauser published in Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.180