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:
Tree Height
30
m
Shrub Height
5
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
60
%
Shrub Cover
95
%
Field Cover
15
%
Nonvascular Cover
70
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Distinctive vegetation type occupying a shallow, bedrock- and boulder-laden slope concavity on the north face of Mount Rogers. Picea rubens (average DBH 35-40 cm, some to 60 cm) forms an open overstory, beneath which grows a nearly impenetrable shrub complex dominated by Rhododendron maximum. The liverwort Bazzania trilobata is mixed with several mosses in a dense bryophyte layer that covers much of the ground and rock surfaces. The boundary of this vegetation with more typical spruce forest of the area is sharp. Because of the extreme density of vegetation and treacherous substrates (numerous boulders, outcrops, humus holes, and abundant wet, slippery wood), precise plot boundaries could not be laid out. Instead, data were collected from a "plotless" sample of approximately 0.1 ha (20 X 50 m), by penetrating as far as possible from several perimeter points. It is believed that the floristic data are essentially complete, although additional very low cover herbs could be present beneath the shrubs.
