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:
Tree Height
32
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
100
%
Shrub Cover
40
%
Field Cover
35
%
Nonvascular Cover
20
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot location: slope 0.38 km SW of Cold Spring Gap, just upslope from jeep trail. Rock types present: small muscovite schist / phyllite outcrops and abundant debris.
The habitat is a steep, very stony/bouldery slope supporting a maturing forest of Liriodendron tulipifera, Quercus rubra, Quercus montana, and some Acer rubrum. Conus florida, formerly dominant in the understory, has been ravaged by the fungal pathogen, dogwood anthracnose. The herb layer is dominated by a large clone of Aralia nudicaulis and shows signs of heavy herbivory by white-tailed deer, noted especially on Eurybia divaricata, Carex laxiflora, Hylodesmum nudiflorum, and Polygonum biflorum var. biflorum. This plot is located just upslope of an old mountain road; across this roadway is an extensive forest of nearly pure, even-age tulip-poplar with dense Lindera benzoin understory, probably representing mesophytic old-field succession.