Field Note—Comparison of Estimates of Hardwood Bole Volume Using Importance Sampling, the Centroid Method, and Some Taper Equations

Various taper systems and the centroid method were compared to unbiased volume estimates made by importance sampling for 720 hardwood trees selected throughout the state of West Virginia. Only the centroid method consistently gave volumes estimates that did not differ significantly from those made by importance sampling, although some taper equations did well for most species.