Although it is widely known that observations of aeolian sediment transport are susceptible to large sampling errors, sample designs are frequently used that do not sufficiently reduce the measurement uncertainties inherent in the study of aeolian processes. Here, we examine the influence of sample size (n) and sampling location on uncertainty in models of aeolian sediment transport responses to vegetation cover change. We compare measurements from a stratified random array of 27 horizontal sediment mass flux samplers to vegetative cover data collected at a 1 ha site over a period of nearly 6 years. To assess the sensitivity of modeled relationships between aeolian transport and vegetative cover to sample design, we analyze statistical regressions for all possible combinations of sample size and sampler locations. We show that at least 17 randomly located samplers are needed to consistently capture the sediment mass flux response to vegetative cover change. We found that multiple statistically significant models can describe the sediment flux-vegetative cover relationship when using smaller sample sizes, demonstrating the risks of inferring sediment transport response from an underpowered sample design. Across vegetative functional groups, we found that woody cover generally influenced aeolian sediment transport rates more than herbaceous cover, while model uncertainty at large sample sizes (n > 17) showed the limitation of using vegetative cover as an indicator of aeolian sediment transport. Our results suggest an evaluation of sampling practices in aeolian sediment transport studies may be needed to avoid inferential errors that are likely pervasive in this field of study.

中文翻译：

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风沙输送对植被覆盖变化的响应：采样误差对模型不确定性的影响

尽管众所周知，风沙输送的观测容易受到较大抽样误差的影响，但经常使用的样本设计并不能充分减少风沙过程研究中固有的测量不确定性。在这里，我们研究了样本大小（ n）和采样位置对风沙输运对植被覆盖变化的响应模型的不确定性的影响。我们将 27 个水平沉积物质量通量采样器分层随机阵列的测量结果与近 6 年期间在 1 公顷场地收集的植被覆盖数据进行了比较。为了评估风运输和植被覆盖之间的建模关系对样本设计的敏感性，我们分析了样本大小和采样器位置的所有可能组合的统计回归。我们表明，至少需要 17 个随机定位的采样器才能一致地捕获沉积物质量通量对植被覆盖变化的响应。我们发现，当使用较小的样本量时，多个具有统计意义的模型可以描述沉积物通量与植被覆盖的关系，这证明了从动力不足的样本设计中推断沉积物传输响应的风险。在植被功能组中，我们发现木质覆盖通常比草本覆盖对风沙输运速率的影响更大，而大样本量（n  >17）的模型不确定性表明使用植被覆盖作为风沙输运指标的局限性。我们的结果表明，可能需要对风沙输运研究中的采样实践进行评估，以避免该研究领域可能普遍存在的推论错误。