Releve Virginia Division of Natural Heritage, see http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/documents/nh_plotform_instructions.pdf
Overall Taxon Cover Values are Automatically Calculated?
no
Stem Observation Area
400
m²
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
--no data--
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot location: low ridge crest ca. 0.5 miles SE of the terminus of Rt. 784.
The plot is located on a low Piedmont ridge in the Fernbrook Natural Area, a preserve owned by The Nature Conservancy. According to TNC promotional materials, the ridge site was "cultivated" until the Civil War but has been "undisturbed" since that time. The current vegetation is a maturing secondary forest co-dominated by Quercus alba, Quercus rubra, Carya spp., and Liriodendron tulipifera. Cornus florida and Cercis canadensis are prominent in the understory, but the former has been reduced by a fungal pathogen, dogwood anthracnose. Desmodium nudiflorum forms a nearly continuous cover (ca. 70%) in the herb layer.