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
25
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
45
%
Field Cover
40
%
Nonvascular Cover
0.5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Old-age, secondary oak stand, with Quercus alba and Quercus montana the leading dominants. Aged by DOF ca. 170 years (stand origin = 1837). There is a fair amount of oak recruitment in the stand, although out-numbered by Acer rubrum and Nyssa sylvatica. Numerous seedlings and saplings of shorter-lived oaks (Q. coccinea, Q. velutina) are present in small gaps. Low deciduous heaths form dominance patches in the shrub and herb layers. This vegetation is very floristically depauperate, with herbs essentially absent due to the dense, oligotrophic soil and competition from colonial heaths.