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
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Tree Height
21
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
75
%
Shrub Cover
40
%
Field Cover
15
%
Nonvascular Cover
5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Somewhat disturbed stand of Quercus rubra and Q. alba over relatively open shrub layer of Rhododendron catawbiense. Subcanopy Tsuga component has been decimated by hemlock woolly adelgid; cover appears still to exceed 10%, but it is difficult to estimate. Wind and ice storms are probably a salient feature of this vegetation; coarse woody debris comprises Rhododendron branches, Quercus limbs, and dead Tsuga. Plot located ca. 30 m from saddle between Apple Orchard Mountain and Onion Mountain. Vegetation is open and several homesites were once present. Old road or horse trail runs up from saddle through plot. Numerous snags and small canopy gaps are present in plot; vertical strata are not well defined. Several multiple-stemmed trees suggest logging or grazing long ago. Vegetation may represent an ecotonal type between Quercus rubra / Ilex montana - Menziesia pilosa / Dennstaedtia punctilobula - Maianthemum canadense and Tsuga canadensis / Rhododendron catawbiense.
Plot location was pre-selected by the project's stratified random sampling design.
Directions to plot:
Opposite Sunset Field Overlook, follow old logging road east ca. 700 m past old homesite on right. At saddle, look for another, more obscure (now largely overgrown) logging road on southeastern edge of large clearing. This road leads directly to plot, ca. 35 m from edge of field.