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
28
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
50
%
Field Cover
40
%
Nonvascular Cover
0.5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot was located in a small stand of rather dry oak-hickory forest on a southwest facing slope above the South Mayo River. Trees are not large in this area (all < 50 cm DBH), and well-rotted stumps indicate cutting within the past few decades. However, the vegetation captured is remarkably species-rich, with 95 species recorded in the 400 sq.m. sample, 34 of them woody plants. This stand is dominated by Quercus alba, with fewer Quercus stellata and Carya alba also in the overstory. Carya spp. and Acer rubrum are the most common sub-canopy trees, while Cercis canadensis is the most common shrub. The herb layer is open and patchy, with only about 40% total cover, but contains a rich assortment of woody seedlings and drought-tolerant forbs and grasses. The composition of this stand clearly suggest a basic soil chemistry, consistent with the mapped basic geological substrates of norite, metabasalt, and diorite.
