Comparison of classical vs. inverse sampling for estimating plant cover using Monte Carlo simulations (Q1339773)

This paper describes the use of the Monte Carlo method in order to study the statistical properties of estimators like surface percent cover of rare plant species. The populations of species are supposed to be distributed in a square surface. Two estimators of the sample mean are compared: the classical one (the number of hits over the total number of samples) and the inverse one (the number of samples is determined when a certain number of hits is attained). Based on the results of Monte Carlo simulations the authors recommend the use of the inverse sampling method for estimating percent cover of rare species (less than 10\%). For very rare species the number of samples must also be censored.