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
13
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
70
%
Shrub Cover
55
%
Field Cover
70
%
Nonvascular Cover
2
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The sampled stand is an open forest or woodland growing on a xeric, upper ridge slope. Similar vegetation occurs in discrete patches on the west- to southwest-facing aspects on this flank of Brushy Mountain. The canopy is dominated by a short, even-aged cohort of Pinus pungens that regenerated after a catastrophic fire. Fewer, somewhat larger, and probably older, fire-scarred individuals of Quercus montana constitute the remainder of the overstory. Low species-richness on this site is the result of xeric, nutrient-poor soils and the dense root mats of colonial ericads.