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
30
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
75
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
30
%
Field Cover
95
%
Nonvascular Cover
1
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot is located on a low slope bordering the stream in one of the middle-slope ravines forming a very large cove on the south flank of Redrock Mountain. Underlying bedrock is red, calcareous siltstone of the Juniata Formation, and soils are deep and fertile. The forest here is relatively young, having regenerated following clear-cutting several decades ago. Most current overstory trees regenerated from coppice sprouts. Aesculus flava is currently dominant in both the overstory and understory, with Acer saccharum second in importance throughout, Also present are Tilia americana var. heterophylla, Fraxinus americana, Carya cordiformis, and Ulmus rubra. The understory and shrub layer are very open, and the herb layer is dense, lush, and composed of a variety of mostly early-maturing colonial forbs. In the plot, Phacelia fimbriata greatly dominates the spring aspect but will be replaced later by Laportea canadensis, Osmorhiza claytonii, and Polymnia canadensis. Remarkably, despite the history of heavy logging, the herb layers of this forest is remarkably intact and nearly free of exotics, a legacy of older logging methods that did not heavily damage the forest floor.
