Downslope from the plot just above the river is a Tsuga canadensis/Rhododendron maximum forest. Along the Middle Fork River are several small patches of river scour shrub prairie. Although most of the occurrences appear to be on river left. The trail that I hiked in on is located ca. 20m above plot center.;Gently sloping SW facing shoulder slope with a dry Quercus spp. over story growing over Tsuga canadensis. There is relatively low diversity in the plot. However, deer herbivory is barely noticeable. After closer inspection there seems to be a good deal of oak regeneration. Perhaps this is due to a smaller deer herd caused by hunting on surrounding private land.
Representativeness
Large patch of upland oak forest over Canada hemlock. Plot was placed to sample the evergreen photo signature of the Tsuga. The community may be similar to our Plateau hemlock forest found at Gauley River NRA.