This study was conducted in harvesting-designated areas within the Kangwon National University Experimental Forest and across Gangwon Province to evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of various forest inventory methods and to develop log utilization a...
This study was conducted in harvesting-designated areas within the Kangwon National University Experimental Forest and across Gangwon Province to evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of various forest inventory methods and to develop log utilization and merchantable bucking rate models for major species. Using complete enumeration as the baseline, the estimated stand attributes from the square plot method and point sampling method were compared. The point sampling method yielded estimates closest to the baseline, demonstrating the highest accuracy and consistency, whereas the square plot method exhibited a general tendency of overestimation. In addition, the changes in standard error with increasing sample sizes for both methods were analyzed to determine the minimum number of plots required based on stand area. Furthermore this study introduces 3P sampling, one of the efficient methods for volume estimation, and the comparison with other inventory methods showed that 3P sampling demonstrated higher accuracy and efficiency.
Additionally, data collected from harvested trees of Larix kaempferi (Lk), Quercus mongolica (Qm), and Quercus variabilis (Qv) were used to calculate log volume, xylem volume utilization rate, merchantable log utility rate and bucking rate. Based on these data, bucking rate models were developed for both long and short logs of Lk, and for short logs of Qm and Qv. Models were developed based on species-specific characteristics and end-use categories, with LK applied to both long and short logs, and Qm and Qv applied only to short logs. The optimal bucking rate models selected utilized both the xylem volume utilization rate and merchantable log utility rate. This study proposed survey methods for efficiently assessing forest resources in Korea, and the developed bucking rate models are expected to be used for estimating log production by end use according to log length, contributing to future timber production management.