Critique of Sikkink and Keane's comparison of surface fuel sampling techniques
Clinton S. Wright A B , Roger D. Ottmar A and Robert E. Vihnanek A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory, 400 North 34th, Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98103, USA.
B Corresponding author. Email: cwright@fs.fed.us
International Journal of Wildland Fire 19(3) 374-376 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF09084
Submitted: 29 July 2009 Accepted: 15 December 2009 Published: 13 May 2010
Abstract
The 2008 paper of Sikkink and Keane compared several methods to estimate surface fuel loading in western Montana: two widely used inventory techniques (planar intersect and fixed-area plot) and three methods that employ photographs as visual guides (photoload, photoload macroplot and photo series). We feel, however, that their study design was inadequate to evaluate the accuracy of these methods when measured against a series of reference sites. Incorrect use may have contributed to the authors' inferences that the photo series method was the least accurate in this case. Furthermore, sampling efficiency was not adequately taken into account when evaluating overall efficacy of the five methods studied.
Additional keywords: fuel inventory techniques, photo series.
References
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