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
36
m
Shrub Height
3
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
70
%
Shrub Cover
60
%
Field Cover
15
%
Nonvascular Cover
40
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot is on a very rocky, lower slope of Stone Mountain subtending Roaring Branch. The ground surface covered with mossy boulders and interstitial litter. Extensive coarse woody debris, covered in mosses and liverworts, is also present. The forest here is part of an old-growth hemlock - mixed hardwood stand that is undergoing significant changes due to the impacts of hemlock woolly adelgid. Hemlocks in plot range up to 100+ cm DBH and still have >50% of their foliage. Betula lenta and Fagus grandifolia are the principal hardwood associates. Rhododendron maximum forms an open to locally dense shrub layer. The herb layer is somewhat unusual in the abundance of Dryopteris intermedia, which is indicative of the cool, humid conditions in the Roaring Branch gorge before it empties into the Powell River in Big Stone Gap.
