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
0
m
Tree Cover
50
%
Shrub Cover
30
%
Field Cover
25
%
Nonvascular Cover
30
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot is located on a sharp ridge spur on the western flank of Beards Mountain, between the upper parts of Bay Lick Hollow and Rose Camp Hollow. The vegetation is a shale woodland situated on the upper slope of the spur, just below its crest. Although relatively stable for a shale barren, the habitat has considerable areas of exposed channery and reddish silt; clumps of Cladonia spp. cover approximately 25% of the plot. The extremely xerophytic nature of the vegetation is reflected by the stunted and gnarled specimens of chestnut oak, Virginia pine, red oak, and pignut hickory, which fail to reach 10 m in height. The herb layer is sparse to patchy, consisting almost entirely of low heaths and drought-tolerant grasses, sedges, and forbs. The slope steepens sharply just below plot. Similar vegetation covers most of the middle to upper, southwest-facing slopes of this and adjacent spurs.
