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
23
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
1
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
95
%
Field Cover
2
%
Nonvascular Cover
3
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Northern red oak / evergreen Rhododendron stand on slope of resistant sandstone knob at top of Clinch Mountain ridge. This part of stand is medium-aged, while the part on the steeper and less accessible south slope of the knob appears older. On top of the knob, where an abandoned fire tower is located, the stand has been extensively disturbed by clearing, as well as by more severe wind and ice impacts. The more mature parts of the stand have little to no oak recruitment and extensive recruitment of younger Betula lenta and B. alleghaniensis. A variety of umbilicate, crustose, and foliose lichens covers boulders on the slope, while small areas of soil are covered by bryophytes.
