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
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Field Height
6
m
Field Cover
100
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The habitat is one of several seasonally flooded basins that are fed by saline springs emanating from Mississippian-age salt deposits in the Ridge and Valley province near Saltville, Smyth County. The vegetation is an extraordinary inland salt marsh, Virginia's rarest natural community, containing halophytes disjunct from the Atlantic coast. There is considerable variability in the floristic composition of these marshes; this plot represents a tall variant that is common in the most deeply flooded habitats. In this variant, Schoenoplectus robustus is the overwhelming dominant, with Juncus gerardii var. gerardii locally abundant along the slightly drier edges.
