Comparing different k-NN sampling methods for density estimation of wild pistachio (Pistaciaatlantica Desf.) with clustered spatial pattern in a Zagros open stand

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 M.Sc. Student, College of Agriculture, Shiraz University

2 Assistant Prof., College of Agriculture, Shiraz University

Abstract

Density (i.e. number of trees per unit area) is one of the important structural attributes of forest stands which is appropriate to understand forest dynamics. The k-Nearest Neighbour (k-NN) method is a distance sampling method which is commonly used to estimate quantitative attributes in forest inventories. In this study, the k-NN method with five strategies of Nearest Individual (NI), Nearest Neighbour (NN), Random Pairs (RP), Point-Centered Quarter (PCQ), and Quartered Neighbour (QN) was used to estimate the density of wild pistachio (Pistacia atlantica Desf.) in Zagros woodlands. A natural stand of 45 ha was selected in Bane Research Site, and was fully callipered to derive the true density. The spatial distribution of trees was clustered (R=0.79 and z = -12.38) with a true density of 19.44 trees per ha. While applying the k-NN method, different strategies as well as k ranging between 2 and 10 were tested across 46 sample points in a 100 × 100 m2 sampling grid. The results showed that all strategies except PCQ significantly estimated the density at α=0.05. Furthermore, the number of k and the strategy of k-tree selection affected the accuracy and precision of k-NN results, since NI in k=4, NN in k=7, RP and QN in k=2 estimated the density with the least error (RMSE and Bias). In conclusion, the optimum k-NN method with appropriate k and strategy could estimate the density of wild pistachio trees with clustered spatial distribution in an open stand in Zagros woodlands.

Keywords

References

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Iranian Journal of Forest and Poplar Research
Volume 23, Issue 4
January 2016
Pages 626-636

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