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
15
m
Shrub Height
4
m
Field Height
3
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
10
%
Field Cover
90
%
Nonvascular Cover
0.5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
PLOT DIRECTIONS: On West Virginia, Virginia border just south of Quinn Ridge, north of Galford Gap. Plot is almost entirely in Virginia, and was sampled by West Virginia Natural Heritage Program ecologists as part of an inventory of high ridge sites with potential for use as wind farms. LANDSCAPE CONTEXT: High-elevation ridge system with history of human vegetation management including burning, clearcutting, and conifer plantings. Currently remote and little visited. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITION: Gently sloping convex ridge shoulder at relatively high elevation. Community is a forest with scattered, giant, battered red oaks, with oak regeneration in all size classes except low shrub, which has probably been browsed out by heavy deer pressure in recent years. Ground cover is dominated by a green carpet of Pennsylvania sedge. REPRESENTATIVENESS: Probably just a small patch of older trees with excellent oak regeneration. Near project boundary for proposed USFS prescribed burn.
