Sampling universe (study area)

The figure below provides the geographical context for the proposed monitoring of airboat trail condition. The study area is restricted to 250 m x 250 m cells (6.25 ha; n = 1382) at the southern end of the refuge.

Assessment methodology

Prior to power analysis, we need to better understand the current condition for a variety of relevent metrics.

The proposed methodology is as follows:

  1. Examine cells in the order defined by the grts_ord attribute of the provided AirboatGridSelected shapefile
    1. Examine cells until 30 measurements have been made for each attribute below. That is, one attribute will just reach the 30 measurement threshhold while the other two metrics will likely have more measurements.
    2. Cells may be rejected/skipped due, e.g., to recent contractor activity or > 75% open water. Document rejection reason and proceed to next cell.
  2. Accurately measure (i.e., do not categorize) and record:
    1. Total length of primary trails
    2. Total length of secondary trails
    3. Area of flattened vegetation, sawgrass, or trees