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
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
75
%
Shrub Cover
50
%
Field Cover
20
%
Nonvascular Cover
10
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
A long narrow plot configuration (10 x 40 m) was employed to maintain environmental and compositional homogeneity. The plot lies on the southern brow of the Catawba Mountain crest in an area with abundant, weathered shaley rocks at the surface. The vegetation is a notably diverse, dry oak-hickory forest with mixed dominance by Quercus montana, Q. rubra, Q. alba, and Carya glabra. Remarkably, Acer rubrum is absent from this stand and there is excellent recruitment of the overstory species in the sub-canopy tree layers. A number of noteworthy, mostly nutrient-demanding, species occur in the shrub and herb layers, e.g., Cercis canadensis, Celtis tenuifolia, Clematis coactilis, Helianthus laevigatus, Sedum glaucophyllum, Taenidia integerrima, and Commelina erecta. This stand is generally similar to other oak-hickory stands that are interspersed with more acidic oak/heath forests and acidic woodlands on the southeastern flank of Catawba Mountain.