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
33
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
1
m
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
40
%
Field Cover
70
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Diverse, mesic oak-sugar maple forest on a limestone slope with surprisingly few weeds. Soil pH and calcium levels are surprisingly low for a site on carbonate rocks. Although oaks comprise most of the larger-diameter canopy trees, there is no oak recruitment in the stand, and sugar maple is overwhelmingly dominant in all understory tree layers. Stand has notable woody diversity. Herb cover is uneven: rather patchy in a small concavity at the south end of the plot but dense and lush on a convexity at the north end. Downslope, the slope steepens as it approaches the floodplain of the North River, supporting a rocky "boulderfield forest" dominated by Acer saccharum, Tilia americana var. heterophylla, and Thalictrum dioicum. Vegetation similar to that of the plot continues upslope for some distance, although the habitat is significantly rockier in places.
