A stratification system for ecological sampling
R.G.H. Bunce, Colin J. Barr, H. A. Whittaker · NERC Open Research Archive (Natural Environment Research Council) · 1983
Stratification procedures in ecology have not reached a comparable degree of sophistication to those in other biological disciplines, often relying upon intuition rather than a more systematic approach.Such a reliance upon personal judgement often leads to problems of consistency in interpretation and to the arbitrary selection of sample sites whose relationship to the whole area is insufficiently understood.The methods of stratification used in various branches of ecology are discussed, leading to the description of a system where personal judgement is reduced as far as possible.Strata are produced by objective analysis, from which a small number of randomly selected samples can then be drawn, known to be representative of the whole area.Because of this relationshi detailed studies carried out in these sample areas can be converted to overall estimates which can be subjected to tests of external validity and have statistical errors attached to them.The applications of this system to various types of ecological mapping are discussed.