Comparison of Three Methods of Estimating Surface Area and Biomass for a Forest of Young Eastern White Pine

This paper presents estimates of foliage, branch and stem surface area, and ovendry weight, with estimates of precision of these statistics, for a 10-yr-old stand of eastern white pine on a 16-ha watershed at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in the Southern Appalachians. Three different methods were used to estimate the forest surface area and biomass: (1) stratified two-phase sampling, (2) two-phase sampling with a regression estimator, and (3) two-phase sampling with a ratio-of-means estimator. Stratified two-phase sampling was the most precise and appropriate method; the population was estimated to contain 5.3 ha foliage, 0.76 ha branches, and 0.13 ha stems per hectare of land surface. The estimated ovendry weight of tree components was estimated to be 2.71, 6.83, and 7.01 metric tons per hectare, respectively, for foliage, branches, and stems. The standard error of estimate for surface area and biomass ranged from 5 to 10 percent, depending upon the tree components of interest. Forest Sci. 20:91-100.