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
12
m
Shrub Height
5
m
Field Height
1
m
Tree Cover
65
%
Shrub Cover
30
%
Field Cover
70
%
Nonvascular Cover
4
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Very open, very stunted forest on a dry, rocky, south-facing upper side slope just below the summit of Great North Mountain. The substrate is evidently weathered from shale or siltstone, numerous small outcrops of which occur. The canopy consists of chestnut oak and some red oak, with younger (or at least smaller) red hickories in the sub-canopy. The dominant oaks are gnarled and some of them originated from coppice sprouts; the latter may have resulted from natural disturbances rather than logging. The open-canopy conditions have allowed a surprising diversity of xerophytic shrubs and herbs to occur on this edaphically stressful site. Among these, Quercus ilicifolia, Amelanchier arborea, Vaccinium spp., Carex pensylvanica, Calagrostis porteri, Danthonia spicata, Helianthus divaricatus, and Apocynum androsaemifolium each attain at least 5% cover in the sample.