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
34
m
Shrub Height
3
m
Field Height
4
m
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
45
%
Field Cover
75
%
Nonvascular Cover
1
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This plot was sampled in a small seepage forest (0.2-0.4 ha) at the base of a berm / levee formed by the canal towpath, about 120 meters from the Appomattox River. It grades into a floodplain forest with better drained areas of Mesic Mixed Hardwood Forest. Two patches of seepage forest are separated by elevated areas of Mesic Mixed Hardwood Forest. This forest may not have been disturbed since the construction of the canal (1795-1807), though there is evidence of quarrying and ditching in the floodplain. The slopes of the towpath (adjacent to the seep) are kept open by utility line maintenance (herbicide spraying and cutting) and exotic species predominate, but this seepage forest is relatively free of exotics. On the date of sampling, skunk cabbage dominated the herb layer.
Water marks are at 20 cm on tree trunks. Hummocks are covered with OM and have a thick OM/root mat
0-2 cm leaf litter
2-22 cm dark brown silty muck
22-40 cm light gray silt with fine gravels
40+ cm yellowish coarse sand / gravel with silt
Disturbance Data:
Disturbance Type
Disturbance Intensity
Disturbance Comment
unknown
It is unlikely the forest has been disturbed since canal construction (1795-1807); the largest trees are >100 years old. There has been quarrying and ditching in the surrounding floodplain.