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
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Shrub Height
5
m
Field Height
5
m
Shrub Cover
25
%
Field Cover
80
%
Nonvascular Cover
1
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot located on east edge of a fairly large montane sag pond. The site is in an area of mixed Devonian/Silurian geology, and is situated on a mountainside bench with karst topography covered by more acidic colluvium and alluvium from the ridge-forming sandstones. Soil samples collected from the plot have very low pH (4.1) but moderately high calcium content, reflecting the influences of mixed parent materials. Vegetation is much of the pond is strictly herbaceous and overwhelmingly dominated by Dulichium arundinaceum. The plot was placed to partly capture zones around the periphery where Cephalanthus occidentalis and other shrubs form open stands and herbaceous composition is slightly more diverse. Aronia prunifolia, Osmunda cinnamomea, and Carex lupulina occur outside the plot on the opposite side of the pond.
