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
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
50
%
Field Cover
70
%
Nonvascular Cover
4
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot is located in a concavity on a rocky, lower northwest-facing limestone slope along the New River. The New River Trail, a converted railroad bed, lies at the bottom of the plot. Soils here are loose, friable, and somewhat erosive; they have high calcium, magnesium, and manganese, and extraordinarily high concentrations of zinc. The vegetation is a diverse mixed mesophytic forest with a lush herb layer of nutrient-demanding mesophytes, including many spring ephemerals. Dominated by medium-age Acer saccharum and Tilia americana var. heterophylla, with scattered Aesculus flava, Quercus rubra, Q. muhlenbergii, and Fraxinus americana. A few large, relic trees are scattered in the stand. The diversity of nutrient-demanding herbaceous species, as well as overall species-richness, is relatively high.