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
5
m
Field Height
1
m
Tree Cover
90
%
Shrub Cover
60
%
Field Cover
0.5
%
Nonvascular Cover
0.5
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
The steep, northwest-facing slopes and bluffs bordering the Occoquan River (now impounded) in Fountainhead Regional Park support forest stands unusual for the Piedmont and containing Tsuga canadensis, Betula lenta, and Rhododendron maximum. The combination of the very steep terrain and distinctive vegetation composition gives this area a decidedly "montane" feel. This plot was placed to capture an area where hemlock is absent (or nearly so), on the steep, north-facing side slope of ravine, ~ 100 m above its mouth at the river. The plot barely extends onto a small stream terrace at bottom, where large Nyssa sylvatica and Acer rubrum individuals are rooted and overhang the sample. Vegetation is a nice, medium-age forest co-dominated by Fagus grandifolia, Betula lenta, and Quercus montana, with dense Rhododendron maximum shrub layer. The stand is floristically depauperate and essentially lacks herbaceous species, at partly due to very heavy herbivory.
