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
23
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
1
m
Tree Cover
70
%
Shrub Cover
55
%
Field Cover
35
%
Nonvascular Cover
75
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This plot was positioned in the bottom of a shallow, north-facing ravine head filled with lichen- and moss-covered boulders that range up to car-sized. The forest here is more or less co-dominated by Quercus rubra, Betula lenta, and Acer rubrum and may be quite old; a very large Betula lenta stands just downslope of the plot, while a very large Quercus rubra snag in the plot has contributed extensive woody coarse and fine woody debris to the surface substrate. Ilex montana is the most abundant shrub, while the herb layer is characterized by fern patches (Osmunda cinnamomea, Dryopteris intermedia, Osmunda claytoniana), Oclemena acuminata, Viola blanda, and Polypodium appalachianum (on boulder faces). This vegetation has some affinities with "northern hardwoods" but surprisingly lacks Betula alleghaniensis and other characteristic species of that group.
