Plot is located along one of the nicest hiking trails in the Monongahela National Forest. To the NW ca. 40m is a large cliff break with Umbilicaria & Paronychia overlooking Germany Valley. To the East is a beautiful Pitch Pine / Kalmia woodland ca. 250m (see plot MONF.361). There are many rocky bluffs along the trail looking W. Along these bluffs there are more open Pitch Pine / Box Huckleberry woodlands (see MONF.363).;Plot is located in the edge of a saddle. The forest floor is covered w/ basketball sized chunks of tuscarora sandstone. The community is dominated by large Red and Chestnut oaks over Mt. Laurel and Blueberries. There is a distinct browse line on many of the shrubs and there is a lack of oak regeneration within the stand. Thin soils with charcoal in the A and duff horizons. The T2 have large spred out tops, branching from as low as 6m. Red Oak lvs holey from insect munching.
Representativeness
Large patch of the matrix Oak / Heath forest occuring on N. Fork Mtn. Plot was placed in area w/ higher shrub cover. There are large stretches of this community with little to no vegetation on the forest floor. The plot was placed to accent the shrub l
