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
9
m
Shrub Height
4
m
Field Height
0
m
Tree Cover
5
%
Shrub Cover
8
%
Field Cover
80
%
Nonvascular Cover
80
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This is a small but remarkable natural pond located on a small, flat spur of the main Blue Ridge. Surrounded by dry, acidic oak/heath forest, the pond was recently drawn down on the date of sampling, exposing extensive cover of one or more sphagnum mosses. The herbaceous vegetation was overwhelmingly dominated by Carex lupuliformis, a Coastal Plain species occuring here at its only known montane location in Virginia. Few other herbaceous species are present. Two stunted persimmons are rooted near the pond center, and a few Smilax shrubs are present at the east end of the pond; several trees of Nyssa sylvatica rooted on the pond rim slightly overhang the plot.
