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
32
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
55
%
Field Cover
5
%
Nonvascular Cover
8
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Plot was positioned to document an extensive, oligotrophic hardwood - hemlock forest that occupies wide terraces in the bottom of the Little Stony Creek cove on Great North Mountain. A 10 X 40 m configuration was utilized to maintain habitat / vegetation uniformity and avoid dead hemlocks and gaps. Several small, bouldery "swales" traverse the plot, and contain wet sandy / sphagnous microhabitats. In the area of the plot, hardwoods (Quercus montana, Liriodendron tulipifera) dominate the overstory, with hemlock prevalent in the understory. Although adelgid damage is widespread, remaining hemlocks still have the majority of their foliage (species cover would be an "8" had the foliage been completely intact).
