Additional sampling and estimation details for urban forest inventory and analysis reports (version 1)

In most cases, it is not feasible to count every element of a population. This limitation is particularly true in a forest inventory because tallying every tree is prohibitively expensive and time consuming. As such, sampling is used to estimate the population totals for attributes of interest (e.g., number of trees). Sample size, plot design, measurement procedures, and ecological modeling all impact the degree of uncertainty associated with the resulting estimates. It is critical to understand these influences and to consider the level of confidence in an estimate when using the data for decision making.