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
100
m²
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Shrub Height
5
m
Field Height
1
m
Shrub Cover
75
%
Field Cover
10
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
A long, narrow plot configuration was used to capture a narrow band of maritime scrub occupying a steep, short bluff bordering the Chesapeake Bay near the southern tip of the Eastern Shore. Typical dune grassland is essentially absent here and the steep shrubby bluff is abruptly bordered by the beach at the bottom and a nearly flat terrace with maritime forest at the top. The sampled vegetation is significant in containing one of a very few stations for Quercus virginiana on the Eastern Shore, at the northern range limits for this species. The oak, however, shares dominance with Myrica pensylvanica and Ilex opaca, with some Prunus serotina, Sassafras albidum, and sapling Pinus taeda also present. A number of typical dry-dune herbs occupy sandy openings in the scrub.
