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
30
m
Shrub Height
4
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
40
%
Field Cover
30
%
Nonvascular Cover
4
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The plot is located in a remnant oak/heath stand on an upper slope above an old quarry on the steep, Arlington Co. portion of the Potomac Gorge. Although this site would normally be considered quite marginal for data collection, the extreme paucity of undisturbed forest vegetation on the Arlington bluff made it necessary to sample the stand. The forest here has mixed overstory dominance of Quercus montana and Quercus rubra, with a relatively diverse understory of deciduous heaths, Kalmia latifolia, Hamamelis virginiana, Viburnum acerifolium, Sassafras albidum, and young Acer rubrum. Herbaceous plants are rather sparse.