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
32
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
65
%
Shrub Cover
20
%
Field Cover
5
%
Nonvascular Cover
1
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This plot is representative of swamp forest vegetation prevalent in the large sinkhole pond SROW-7 in the Grafton Ponds complex. Rawinski considered this an outstanding occurrence of Nyssa biflora-dominated swamp forest but did not intensively study or plot-sample it during his 1995-96 study of the Grafton Ponds. Very extensive blowdowns of Acer rubrum and Liquidambar styraciflua, as well as mortality of Quercus phellos, since 1995 has littered this pond with coarse and fine woody debris. Most of the pond supports no herbaceous plants. We selected an area near the edge that has a colony of Carex joorii (common around the pond margins) on high ground, and an open forest occupying a low swale with marginal hummocks. A large blowdown and gap occupies the plot center. At the south end of the plot are two large and magnificent Nyssa biflora (82 and 92 cm DBH). The vegetation is extremely species-poor, with only 12 taxa present in the 400 square meter sample.
Smilax heavily browsed by deer. Extensive coarse and fine woody debris on ground from Hurricane Isabel blowdowns. Some Leucothoe racemosa nearly defoliated by caterpillars.
