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
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot location: ravine in bluff along James River, 0.7 miles S of Norwood.
Field estimate from topo: (UTME): 693313 (UTMN): 4167548.
A narrow, elongate plot configuration (13.3 X 30 m) was employed on this steep, short ravine slope to maintain homogeneity in the sampled vegetation. The site is sheltered and somewhat mesic. The vegetation has apparently escaped major recent disturbances and is characterized by large (up to nearly 1.0 meter DBH) Quercus montana over a virtually continuous and tangled shrub thicket of Rhododendron catawbiense. Along with Betula lenta, a constituent of the understory, R. catawbiense is a montane outlier. Tsuga canadensis and Kalmia latifolia are also prominent understory species. This is likely an uncommon or rare, disjunct vegetation that is somewhat more widespread in the Blue Ridge.