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
31
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
80
%
Shrub Cover
65
%
Field Cover
30
%
Nonvascular Cover
0.5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The plot is representative of dry white pine - oak forest , which is extensive on Indian Grave Ridge. The canopy is dominated by large, ~ even-aged white pine ca. 30-32 m tall; oaks are smaller and mostly in the subcanopy. White pine saplings dominated the shrub layer. The presence of stump-sprouted chestnut oaks in the stand, as well as scattered large trees of pitch and table-mountain pines, suggests a history of past logging and fires. It seems likely that the upper-canopy white pines became established following one of these disturbance events while the flush of saplings has resulted from a recent period in which fire has been absent.
