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
1000
m²
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Tree Height
33
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
85
%
Shrub Cover
80
%
Field Cover
30
%
Nonvascular Cover
0.5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
A permanent 1000 sq. meter releve plot was installed in this old-age stand (see original plot form for diagram of rebar and tree tag placement). This is the oldest stand aged by DOF in the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest, with some of the larger oaks up to 216 years old. Most of the larger oaks are not stump-sprouted, and apparently represent even-aged regeneration following disturbance during early post-European settlement. However, several very large chestnut oak individuals are stump-sprouted, suggesting selective cutting in the distant past. The stand is currently dominated by chestnut oak and white oak, with scattered individuals of northern red oak, red hickory, Mockernut hickory, and tulip-poplar (mostly in gaps where large oaks have died). Some recruitment of chestnut oak is present in the understory, but it is greatly outnumbered by that of red maple, black gum, and hickory spp. Flowering dogwood was formerly more abundant in the understory, with many individuals recently succumbed to dogwood anthracnose. A huge flush of chestnut oak seedlings was present at the site in 2008. Herbaceous plants are very sparse, no doubt because of the thick surficial organic layer and competition from rhizomatous heaths.
