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
8
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
1
m
Tree Cover
20
%
Shrub Cover
50
%
Field Cover
50
%
Nonvascular Cover
45
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot is located on the largest and most diverse of several exfoliating granitic outcrops on the upper west flank of Woods Mountain in The Nature Conservancy's Fortunes Cove Preserve. The vegetation here is a patchwork of semi-closed woodlands, grassy and shrubby openings, and exposed bedrock faces with sparse vascular plants and large mats of lichens and bryophytes. Staining and linear mats of Grimmia laevigata following depressions on the steeply sloping rock faces indicate that considerable seepage occurs periodically over the rocks. The plot sample was positioned to capture each of these microhabitats in roughly equal proportions. Grassy areas are dominated by the tussock-forming warm-season species Schizachyrium scoparium and Sorghastrum nutans.
