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
5
m
Field Height
6
m
Tree Cover
75
%
Shrub Cover
1
%
Field Cover
70
%
Nonvascular Cover
4
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The plot was placed in a savanna-like floodplain forest along the lower reach of Antioch Swamp, just upstream from its confluence with the Blackwater River. The forest occupies an island-like terrace between the main channel of the swamp and a narrow, deeply flooded backswamp oxbow. Hydrology of the site is difficult to assess, but it is likely to be flooded, at least shallowly, for significant periods during the winter and spring but exposed for most of the summer. Medium-sized Quercus lyrata and Q. laurifolia co-dominate the open stand, but single mature specimens of Betula nigra and Ulmus americana also occur in the plot. Shrubs are virtually absent, and ca. 70% of the plot area is covered by a dense herbaceous mixture of hydrophytic sedges and forbs.
