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
9
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
1
m
Tree Cover
10
%
Shrub Cover
50
%
Field Cover
80
%
Nonvascular Cover
100
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This plot is located in one of four patches of an extraordinary, open woodland bog covering about 1.7 hectares (4.1 acres) in aggregate along the North Fork Stony Creek. The bogs are located along the outer edge of the floodplain valley, where groundwater inputs from slope-base seeps maintain a permanently high water table. Soil consists of poorly decomposed peat, in places thin and quaking over the shallow water table. Deep, wet Sphagnum spp. cover the ground. Judging from the even-age cohorts of pitch pine throughout the area, and the presence of charred wood and charcoal, the entire site probably has a history of periodic fires during dry spells. The density of trees is variable, with a few semi-closed stands and mostly very open stands of stunted, small-diameter Pinus rigida, the largest of which are 45 to 70 years old (based on increment cores). This sample represents the largest opening, which is largely herbaceous except for a few discrete tree/shrub patches and many sapling pitch pines recently recruited into the area. The herbaceous flora is dense and patch-dominated by Carex atlantica ssp. atlantica, Eriophorum virginicum, Osmunda cinnamomea, Parnassia asarifolia, and Rhynchospora capitellata.
