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
18
m
Shrub Height
4
m
Field Height
1
m
Tree Cover
75
%
Shrub Cover
6
%
Field Cover
80
%
Nonvascular Cover
6
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot is representative of an extensive stand of stunted oaks and some hickories with a sparse understory and dense, graminoid-dominated herb layer. This structure gives the stand a savanna-like appearance. Herb-layer patch-dominance varies among Deschampsia flexuosa, Calamagrostis porteri, Danthonia spicata, and Carex pensylvanica, in rough order of importance. Many snags and fallen trees are present, dating from a massive gypsy moth outbreak during a droughty period in the early 1990's. The plot was placed in an area that has an optimally intact canoipy.