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
16
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
25
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
70
%
Field Cover
60
%
Nonvascular Cover
1
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot is located in a stunted oak - hickory forest with dense graminoid herb layer, on a gentle, south-facing slope a short distance below the crest of Potts Mountain. A large number of low-cover forbs are present among clones of Carex woodii and C. pensylvanica, but repeated grazing by very populous deer have reduced most to abnormally small vegetative specimens. The plot is representative of grassy oak-hickory stands that cover a large, nearly continuous area along the crests of Potts Mountain and Big Mountain to the west. This type generally occupies the broad, convex crest zone and transitions into red oak-dominated forests a short distance downslope, but is absent from some of the highest-elevation peaks (e.g., Lone Pine Peak) and saddles.