A field test of point relascope sampling of down coarse woody material in managed stands in the Acadian Forest.

Abstract We field tested a new method for sampling down coarse woody material (CWM) using an angle gauge and compared it with the more traditional line intersect sampling (LIS) method. Permanent sample locations in stands managed with different silvicultural treatments within the Penobscot Experimental Forest (Maine, USA) were used as the sampling locations. Point relascope sampling (PRS) with three different angles spanning the practical range of angles for such stands was used along with 40 m of LIS sample per sample point. Compared to LIS, the three angles resulted in similar number of pieces and volume of CWM from stands with different histories of repeated partial harvests. In terms of sampling efficiency, PRS was up to 4 times more efficient than LIS. These results, while limited to only one forest type and a relatively small sample, are the first published results available on the field performance of PRS