Hobby Plots

I've been spending a lot of time (probably too much time) spinning plots in a couple of forest stands on the Markagunt.  Though there have been days when this was my job, now it is more of a hobby.  I call them hobby plots.  After I had a plot or two, I put the data into a growth and yield model, the Forest Vegetation Simulator.  This particular model generates simulated images of the stand to be used in papers and presentations (above).  The problem, of course, with limited data and modelled outputs, is that they are likely to give a distorted view of reality.  In this case, one of my plots landed in a clump of (three) ten-inch subalpine fir trees.  The model projects the plot data to the stand level and finds that there are about 80 ten-inch firs per acre.  As you can see, (below) the actual stand has been salvage logged and has about five overstory trees per acre.  I just happened to have most of them on my plot.  The best way to correct the model is to collect more data.  Whew.  This hobby is becoming more like a job.